Social: Social Cognition and Teamwork - Foundations for Designing User-Centered Systems - page 237

powerful electrical shocks to volunteer learners, based on commands from the
experimenter (an authority figure)—notably, shocks were not in fact delivered but
study participants believed they were. The power wielded by the experimenter in
this study was not physically coercive or economic, but rather symbolic, in that
they were an authority figure in a study. Milgram noted that the goal (the
advancement of knowledge) and the location (Yale) influenced participants to
acquiesce more readily to the experimenter's demands (Milgram 1963 , p. 377). In
the Milgram study and subsequent obedience studies (e.g., Haney et al. 1973 ),
belief in the legitimacy and power of the leader led to the leader being granted
actual power over the participant.
The effects of authority are moderated by other factors, such as physical
proximity. If the team leaders are physically located close to the team, they have
more influence on team members. Distant leaders have less authority.
Authority can be expressed in several different ways online, for example, by an
email address (e.g., [e-mail]), by having someone send an email on
your behalf (e.g., this is an email for a vice president sent by an admin assistant),
by privileges or special tools in a game, and by login names (e.g., admin, web-
master, or [e-mail]). How authority is implemented, used, and abused
online is still not fully understood, however.
8.3.9 Task Attractiveness
The task that a team has to perform and, hence, its goals influence the behavior of
the team. Frank's ( 1944 ) and Milgram's ( 1963 ) studies both note that obedience of
authority depends on having legitimate goals that are related to the organization's
mission. More legitimate goals lead to greater participation in systems. In addition,
people often indicate in interviews and surveys that goals are a motivating factor in
their behavior (Collins 2008 ; Frank 1944 ). Representing social goals poses a
challenge, in that they emerge at the interface between cognitive and social
activity, and hence tend to be more abstract. It can therefore be difficult to evaluate
how successfully they have been achieved.
Over time, legitimate goals tend to make group members more compliant,
whereas illegitimate goals erode the ability of leaders to influence their subordi-
nates. Making the goals clear, and the payoff for achieving them direct and
immediate, are just some ways to make tasks more appealing. Online systems,
including computer games, can be designed to take advantage of this. Carma
( http://www.car.ma ), for example, is an online car ride sharing site where the goal
is attractive to users for multiple reasons. The Carma app runs on a smartphone
and connects to a server. When you want to travel somewhere, you note where you
want to be picked up and how much you are willing to pay. As you drive, or before
you drive, you check to see if anyone is looking for a ride.
The success of Carma's system appears to be more dependent on social factors
than on technology. If there are not enough drivers and passengers, there will not