Analyzing the Evolution of Boards in Collaborative Work Management Tools
摘要
Board-Based Collaborative Work Management Tools (BBTs) like Trello and Microsoft Planner are widespread today. Their use includes the management of projects, static information, or processes, which is achieved by assigning and moving cards through lists representing specific states, steps, or other classification criteria. BBTs are a flexible solution since boards, lists and cards can be changed by the user to adapt to new situations, e.g., changes in the processes or projects. However, understanding how a board is being used is challenging because what can be seen at a glance is a static snapshot of its current state. BBTs usually produce logs that capture all the activity that has taken place within the boards. In this paper, we leverage that data to mine BBT logs to understand how boards are used and evolve over time. Specifically, we introduce an approach that aims to detect structural changes in the boards, and visualize the evolution of the boards’ lists. We have analyzed 63 real-life BBT logs and tested the approach with three case studies.