ABSTRACT

In this paper, we describe the founding phases in the design of a collaborative spatial decision support system, Collaborative Spatial Multicriteria Evaluator (CoSpaME). Our approach is influenced to a large extent by the existing body of research in Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). CSCW researchers study collaborative activities in the real world and design collaboration enabling technologies. There is a broad consensus in this community about the essential role that negotiations play in the coordination of work activities in collaborative settings. We argue that when designing collaborative SDSSs, significant design effort has to be focussed on supporting negotiations. This is to be done in addition to interactive data visualisations which have naturally been of primary interest to GIS researchers. We illustrate our strategy with reference to a prototypical CoSpaME for illustrating the potential impact that simple interface considerations have on facilitating negotiations among peer decision makers.