The value of visualizing shared rationales for identifying hidden profiles in virtual group decision-making

当人们想到一群人聚在一起做决定时，一个普遍的看法是，小组讨论使成员能够将他们不同的知识汇集在一起，从而使小组做出比个人更明智的决定。与这种普遍看法相反，小组成员倾向于汇集和讨论共同的信息，而留下独特的信息。由于这种信息池现象，需要群体将唯一信息池在一起的正确决策无法被群体识别，因此被称为“隐藏概要文件”。与面对面的群体相比，虚拟群体决策活动的沟通媒介更精简，更容易受到隐性档案问题的影响。本研究试图通过探索在虚拟隐藏档案任务中共享和可视化小组成员的基本原理的价值，来解决虚拟群体决策中的隐藏档案问题。具体而言，将设计和实现两个协作应用程序，使用两种可视化机制，即基于作者的机制和基于信息的机制，提供共享基本原理的协作可视化。可视化技术的有效性将通过一项实验室控制研究来检验，其中虚拟组将在三种条件下执行隐藏配置文件任务：仅使用即时通讯工具（IM）、IM +具有基于作者的可视化机制的协作应用程序和IM +具有基于信息的可视化机制的协作应用程序。在本研究中开发的协作应用程序将向群件研究人员和公众开放。在短期内，研究将集中在小组成员的基本原理的共享和可视化在解决隐藏档案问题上的价值，未来的研究将着眼于他们在虚拟小组的知识建设、知识管理和集体智慧方面的价值。

When people think of a group getting together to make a decision, a common perception is that group discussion enables the members to pool their diverse knowledge together so the group makes a more informed decision than individuals. Contrary to this common belief, group members tend to pool and discuss common information while leaving unique information behind. As a result of this information pooling phenomenon, the correct decision that requires the group to pool together the unique information together cannot be identified by the group, hence is called the "hidden profile". Virtual group decision-making activities are more vulnerable to the hidden profiles problem because of its leaner communication media compared to face-to-face groups. The proposed research attempts to address the hidden profiles problem in virtual group decision-making by exploring the value of sharing and visualizing group members' rationales in a virtual hidden profile task. Specifically, two collaborative applications will be designed and implemented to provide the collaborative visualization of the shared rationales, using two visualization mechanisms, namely, author-based and information-based mechanisms. The effectiveness of the visualization techniques will be examined through a lab controlled study where virtual groups will conduct a hidden profile task under three conditions: Instant Messenger (IM) only, IM + the collaborative application with author-based visualization mechanism, and IM + collaborative application with information-based visualization mechanism. The collaborative applications developed in this research will be made accessible to groupware researchers and public. While in the short term, the research will focus on the value of sharing and visualizing the group members' rationales in addressing the hidden profiles problem, future research will look at the their value in virtual group's knowledge building, knowledge management, and collective intelligence.