Structured online interactions: improving the decision-making of small discussion groups

A quantitative research experiment was used to examine whether a group's computer-mediated decision-making could be improved by providing a scripted structure to the groups text chat discussion. The study compared a regular chat discussion to a scripted chat discussion using Lead Line, a program that allows people to add a layer of pre-authored structure to regular text chat. We found that groups were more likely to come to consensus in structured chat discussions. In addition, groups applied the structure they learned to subsequent regular chat sessions.