Abstract

In an online experiment, I apply theory from psychology and communications to find out whether group information management tasks are governed by the same communica-tion processes as conversation. This paper describes results that replicate previous research, and expand our knowledge about audience design and packaging for future reuse when communication is mediated by a co-constructed artifact like a file-and-folder hierarchy. Results indicate that it is eas-ier for information consumers to search for files in hierar-chies created by information producers who imagine their intended audience to be someone similar to them, indepen-dent of whether the producer and consumer actually share common ground. This research helps us better understand packaging choices made by information producers, and the direct implications of those choices for other users of group information systems. Author Keywords common ground, audience design, group information man-