Help Comes from Understanding: The Positive Effect of Communication Visibility on Employee Helping Behavior

Invisible but Understandable: In Search of the Sweet Spot between Technology Invisibility and Transparency in Smart Spaces and Beyond

Smart technology is already present in many areas of everyday life. People rely on algorithms in crucial life domains such as finance and healthcare, and the smart car promises a more relaxed driving experience—all the while, the technology recedes further into the background. The smarter the technology, the more intransparent it tends to become. Users no longer understand how the technology works, what its limits are, and what consequences regarding autonomy and privacy emerge. Both extremes, total invisibility and total transparency, come with specific challenges and do not form reasonable design goals. This research explores the potential tension between smart and invisible versus transparent and understandable technology. We discuss related theories from the fields of explainable AI (XAI) as well as trust psychology, and then introduce transparency in smart spaces as a special field of application. A case study explores specific challenges and design approaches through the example of a so-called room intelligence (RI), i.e., a special kind of smart living room. We conclude with research perspectives for more general design approaches and implications for future research.

Benefits and drawbacks of communication visibility: from vicarious learning and supplemental work to knowledge reuse and overload

Purpose

This study aims to examine some of the benefits and drawbacks of communication visibility. Specifically, building on communication visibility theory, the authors study how and why message transparency and network translucence may increase knowledge reuse and perceived overload through behavioral responses of vicarious learning and technology-assisted supplemental work.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on survey data obtained from 1,127 employees of a global company operating in the industrial machinery sector, the authors used structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized model.

Findings

The results demonstrate that the two aspects of communication visibility yield somewhat differential benefits and drawbacks in terms of knowledge reuse and communication overload, through vicarious learning and supplemental work practices.

Research limitations/implications

The results demonstrate the relationship between different aspects of communication visibility and knowledge reuse, specifically through vicarious learning. Furthermore, the findings highlight a potential drawback of visibility – communication overload – specifically through technology-assisted supplemental work. Overall, network translucence seems more beneficial compared to message transparency in terms of knowledge reuse and communication overload.

Originality/value

The study connects with recent work on communication visibility by distinguishing differential direct and indirect effects of message transparency and network translucence. It also extends this work by testing relationships between communication visibility and a potential drawback of visibility – communication overload – specifically through technology-assisted supplemental work.