Families have a basic need to stay connected to each other. When families are separated by distance, they turn to communication technologies to stay connected with loved ones. However, most technologies do not provide the same feelings of connectedness that one feels from seeing loved ones. This dissertation explored the design and use of video-based technologies to allow families to communicate and remain connected across distance. The first part of this dissertation explored families' use of video mediated communication (VMC) systems and focused on determining design factors that are critical for its successful adoption. This research was conducted in three phases. Phase 1 explored families' use of a current VMC system, namely video conferencing, to uncover how and why families' use this technology to communicate with loved ones. An interview study led to findings about families' communication practices using video conferencing systems. These included initiating communication using other technologies prior to engaging in a video call, and sharing activities in each other's homes. Design recommendations that emerged from this study highlight the need for mechanisms in VMC systems that allow families to easily initiate communication and easily share everyday life. In Phase 2, design recommendations from Phase 1 were used to design and implement a dyadic VMC system with always-on video called the Family Window (FW). A field evaluation of the system uncovered a mix of practices, some similar to the use of video conferencing systems, for example to share activities, and some new practices that were made possible by the always-on video system. Design recommendations from this field evaluation highlight the importance of dedicated displays, mobility, and privacy controlling mechanisms. In Phase 3, design recommendations from the evaluation of the FW were used to design, implement, and evaluate a multifamily VMC system with called Family Portals. The second part of this dissertation describes the codification of families' communication and awareness practices using VMC systems, into patterns and a pattern language. These communication and awareness practices were codified into Patterns of Practices that can be used as a design tool to design technologies for domestic communication and as a vocabulary to describe domestic communication practices. / Ph. D.

Managing organisational knowledge is crucial to increase business performance and competitiveness. However, given the complexity and dynamic nature of knowledge management practices, multinational organisations experience difficulties in identifying business opportunities and often fail to make necessary investments. This thesis develops an alternative perspective on knowledge management through the creation of a model based on socio-technical characteristics and organisational ignorance, and argues that managing nescience, i.e. knowing what needs to be known and also acknowledging the power of understanding the unknown, could facilitate employees' knowledge sharing behaviour and could improve both short-term opportunistic value capture and longer term business sustainability. It also creates a novel technique for managing dysfunctional knowledge management scenarios and improving knowledge management practices in the workplace by definition of the concept of KM anti-patterns, while discussing practices that reduce the risk of making the wrong decision when using uncertain information. The philosophy of this study is based on an interpretative approach with inductive reasoning. Both qualitative and quantitative methods, based mainly on workshop style discussions, questionnaires and semi-structured interview data, were implemented using various departments of one multinational organisation within the Aerospace and Defence industry as units of the analysis. Managing organisational ignorance is seldom and insufficiently discussed by the current KM literature and no previous attempt has been made to detect, analyse and categorise KM dysfunctional situations using a systematic KM anti-pattern template. It is argued that the issues addressed in this study could lead to inefficient or otherwise inappropriate KM practices; therefore it is important, particularly for managers and senior executives, to acknowledge, verify and act upon such matters in order to increase performance within their business, and optimise the level of knowledge for an individual employee or group in knowledge intensive settings.