Water Wall: Embracing Serendipitous Interactions between Remote Offices

People are profoundly short-sighted. Despite how perpetually interconnected everyone is today online and on smart phones, the scope of our conscious awareness is still usually limited to our physical surroundings. A basic, undeniable human truth is described in the expression “out of sight, out of mind.” For us to stretch our attention any further – that is, to be mindful of something or someone that is out of sight, regardless of how large or important it is – requires deliberate effort and strong personal incentive. This problem becomes very real and very costly in the context of large-scale remote collaboration; especially for companies like SAP, which has over 50,000 employees spread out in small inter-connected teams all over the world. It is chiefly a problem of awareness.

As designers, our challenge is not to overcome this problem, but to accept it. That is the mindset we had when we designed the WaterWall. It is intended to explicitly address people’s implicit shortsightedness, and harness their existing behavior in a new productive direction. “Teaching SAP employees how to look beyond their office walls,” is hardly as powerful a goal as “helping them break down their office walls.” Rather than asking ourselves, “How might we help our users be more aware of the colleagues and resources they have beyond the ones that are obvious and salient in their daily routine?” We reframed the challenge, asking instead, “How might we transform those colleagues and resources so they are an obvious and salient part of their daily routine?” This was a major turning point. We resolved to create a catalyst in the work environment, which would make remote colleagues a salient part of one another’s local work environment.

A more explicit problem inhibiting use of remote collaboration tools is the restrictive nature of the tools themselves. Many products have tried bridging this gap between remote locations, but none have succeeded inmaking an effective communication tool that is both efficient and socially painless. Our initial interviews and observations at SAP confirmed thiat scheduling and long setup- times are often big enough deterrents to prevent people from initiating video calls. The process of starting a videocall must be simplified and streamlined. Even after it has started, though, the central interaction itself is Illustration of the common grievances of SAP’s remote collaboration tools

Social software is ubiquitous, but it’s all very direct. Here is an interesting question: What is the smallest scale of social interaction that can take place remotely? Is it being cc’d on an email? Seeing someone sign on in your buddy list? Being one person in a group phone call? Currently, there are no channels of professional remote communication that allow mutually spontaneous interactions. There is no online version of a shared glance across the room, or a casual hallway collision. This insight revealed a critical interaction gap that is currently not being filled by any existing applications: Serendipity. The most exciting part is that these unplanned, transient exchanges are often the catalyst for new collaborative ideas. That’s why new inspirations often strike while chatting at the water cooler, rather than working at a solitary desk...Our product was inspired out of this concept; that collaborative breakthroughs and new innovative connections will not occur unless there is first a nexus where contrasting viewpoints have an opportunity to collide. The WaterWall has a live 24/7 video-stream to ensure that no time is ever wasted on setup, and interactions can be mutually spontaneous. The “thought bubbles” display current project information that is relevant to both parties, providing a shared awareness of team progress, and some easy conversation starters. Lastly, an interactive graphic display with gestural commands gives users a carefree activity to engage in so their talks are lighter, more socially natural, and not as awkwardly direct.

The WaterWall allows remote teams to communicate in simple, transient ways during idle moments. People value indirect, micro-interactions, so it addresses them explicitely. With a constant, ambient view of the other side, it not only raises mutual awareness between distant teams, but also mutual familiarity and social ease, so that remote colleagues gradually feel comfortable sharing thoughts and problems. As a social gathering point, the WaterWall is a catalyst for new intersections between social circles, departments, and locations. It helps breaks down the walls.