Editing Collaborative software (section)

==Collaborative software and human interaction==
{{essay|section|date=September 2020}}
The design intent of collaborative software (groupware) is to transform the way documents and [[rich media]] are shared in order to enable more effective team collaboration.

Collaboration, with respect to information technology, seems to have several definitions. Some are defensible but others are so broad they lose any meaningful application. Understanding the differences in human interactions is necessary to ensure the appropriate technologies are employed to meet interaction needs.

There are three primary ways in which humans interact: conversations, transactions, and collaborations.

''Conversational interaction'' is an exchange of information between two or more participants where the primary purpose of the interaction is discovery or relationship building. There is no central entity around which the interaction revolves but is a free exchange of information with no defined constraints, generally focused on personal experiences.<ref name="iSchool">{{cite journal|last1=Dunbar|first1=R. I.|last2=Marriott|first2=A.|last3=Duncan|first3=N. D.|title=Human conversational behavior|journal=Human Nature: An Interdisciplinary Biosocial Perspective|date=1997|volume=8|issue=3|pages=231–246|doi=10.1007/BF02912493|pmid=26196965|s2cid=1151885|access-date=3 December 2014|url=http://medisch-fitness.com/documents/75procentdagelijksegesprekkenbestedenweaanroddelen.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141124125602/http://medisch-fitness.com/documents/75procentdagelijksegesprekkenbestedenweaanroddelen.pdf|archive-date=24 November 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Communication technology such as telephones, [[instant messaging]], and e-mail are generally sufficient for conversational interactions.

''Transactional interaction'' involves the exchange of transaction entities where a major function of the transaction entity is to alter the relationship between participants.

In ''collaborative interaction'', the main function of the participants' relationship is to alter a collaboration entity (i.e., the converse of transactional). When teams collaborate on projects it is collaborative project management.