Collocated Distance: A Fundamental Challenge for the Design of Hybrid Work Technologies

After the pandemic, it is urgently important to explore the special challenges which arise with hybrid work. Through cross-case analyses of published papers, we propose collocated distance as a design challenge uniquely relevant for hybrid cooperative technologies. We identify and conceptualize collocated distance as a design challenge that arises in hybrid work situations, where at least three actors are mutually dependent in their work while being located within fewer contexts than the number of actors. Collocated distance reminds us that when designing hybrid technologies, we must not only focus on creating technologies that support the work across geographical locations but equally pay attention to the relations and possible disconnections which exist locally between collocated actors. When designing cooperative technologies supporting distributed work, often focus is on the boundaries between geographical contexts – however, in hybrid work, we must not forget to pay attention to the collocated boundaries within the same context.