Lab 5 - Collaboration Tools

Today's Lab task was to look at some collaboration tools, pick one to sign up for, and explore the software.

I picked GroupZap. The reason I picked this one is because GroupZap doesn't require users to set up an account, which means all you have to do to invite others to collaborate with you on it, is to add their email address. At first, I was concerned with the security aspect of this, but not to worry as GroupZap has additional features, such as making the board "read-only" and the option to set up a password for users to enter before accessing your board.

What type of tool

GroupZap is a collaboration tool whereby users can share a virtual pinboard and put up stick notes. Sounds simple, and it is, which makes it incredibly easy to learn how to use, and very handy! It's similar to sticky notes on Windows computers, except you can share these sticky notes with the rest of your team, and it has more features (e.g. resizing, adding images, icons)

What is it supposed to do

GroupZap is supposed to offer a way to share ideas with team members.

What is the human interaction factor here? How, when, and why do humans use the tool:

Humans use the tool when they want to visually represent some tasks that need doing in a format similar to using a physical pinboard with paper, coloured sticky notes. Occasions to use this might be during team projects, or even just to share a daily to-do list with family members. Humans use the tool because it's very easy to learn to use. It's a simple concept with few menus.

Business model

The big downside? The FREE version only lasts for 24 hours. At that point, your board expires - unless you subscribe for $5.

However, you can export your board as a PDF or PNG file, which is handy (of course you won't be able to edit it after that).

How would you use these tools for your project and in other environments?

I'm considering using it to throw up ideas for my projects, and save them as a series of PDFs, or even just to record a to-do list I have for the day. As I can access it through a browser, it's very accessible anywhere.