Computer-Supported Hybrid Cooperative Work

This PhD examines the future of work after the COVID-19 pandemic, which introduced abrupt changes in work practices. The impact of long-term remote work extends beyond the lockdown periods and has reshaped work preferences, work-life balance, organizational management, and the integration of technologies that facilitate collaboration across distances. Situated within the field of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), this PhD researches contemporary work practices with a focus on what is important in designing cooperative technologies for hybrid work. Hybrid work is defined as cooperation involving both collocated and distributed individuals, supported by multiple physical and digital technologies.

To uncover different perspectives of cooperative technologies for hybrid cooperative work, the research employs a mixed-method approach, integrating qualitative insights from literature and ethnographic studies, as well as quantitative data from a survey. This PhD thesis includes five research papers that, through different research lenses, provide distinct conceptualizations of hybrid work. The PhD examines:

• The conceptualization and characterization of hybrid cooperative work
• The spatial, infrastructural, and organizational challenges that hybrid work practices introduce
• Design propositions for computing technologies supporting hybrid cooperative work

This PhD thesis brings together these findings and insights across the included research papers and proposes a framework of dimensional interdependencies in hybrid work. By conceptualizing the spectrum of cooperative work, the PhD thesis identifies unique characteristics of hybrid work, presents design propositions for technologies supporting hybrid practices, and addresses organizational complexities in managing contemporary work environments. The proposed framework unifies these perspectives, emphasizing the interdependent nature of cooperative work, the ecologies of technology artifacts supporting this work, the inherently multiple spatial contexts, and the organizational structuring – dimensions that should all be considered when designing computing technologies for hybrid cooperative work.

Keywords: hybrid work, cooperative technology, mixed-method research, conceptual frameworks