DocuViz: Visualizing Collaborative Writing

ABSTRACT

Collaborative writing is on the increase. In order to write well together, authors often need to be aware of who has done what recently. We offer a new tool, DocuViz, that displays the entire revision history of Google Docs, showing more than the one-step-at-a-time view now shown in revision history and tracking changes in Word. We introduce the tool and present cases in which the tool has the potential to be useful: To authors themselves to see recent "seismic activity," indicating where in particular a co-author might want to pay attention, to instructors to see who has contributed what and which changes were made to comments from them, and to researchers interested in the new patterns of collaboration made possible by simultaneous editing capabilities.

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Index Terms

• Human-centered computing

  • Collaborative and social computing

    • Collaborative and social computing systems and tools

      • Synchronous editors

    • Collaborative and social computing theory, concepts and paradigms

      • Computer supported cooperative work

• Information systems

  • Information systems applications

    • Collaborative and social computing systems and tools

      • Synchronous editors

• Social and professional topics

  • Professional topics

    • Computing and business

      • Computer supported cooperative work