Kazuo Okamura, Masayo Fujimoto, Wanda J. Orlikowski and Joanne Yates
The use of a computer conferencing system in an R&D lab was significantly shaped by a set of intervening actors - mediators - who actively guided and manipulated the technology and its use over time. These mediators adapted the technology to its initial context and shaped user interaction with it; over time, they continued to modify the technology and influence use patterns to respond to changing circumstances. Well-managed mediation may be a useful mechanism for shaping technologies to evolving context s of use, and it extends one's understanding of the powerful role that intervenors can play in helping computer-supported cooperative work applications succeed.