A persistent chat for work groups: The design, evaluation and deployment of loops

Loops is a text-based computer mediated communication system aimed at small- to medium-sized corporate work groups. We begin by discussing the goals of the system and the rationale behind its design, particularly its treatment of non-conversational text. Next we describe its realization in an implemented system, and discuss how an early working version of the system was 'group tested,' and the changes that lead to. We then discuss its deployment within our organization, and provide examples of how it's used. We conclude with reflections on the usage patterns of Loops and their implications for the design of similar systems. Copyright 2006 ACM.