From profiles to patterns: A new view of task-technology fit

Continuing advances in the capabilities of communication and information technologies provide a wide array of interesting ways for people to collaborate across space, time, cultures, and organizational boundaries. While the use of collaboration technologies spreads, researchers seek answers to understanding how best to match different technology capabilities with the tasks that teams need to accomplish. Different theories of task-technology fit have been promoted and these theories help to identify key issues of interest to both researchers and practitioners who seek the answer to the best technology support for collaboration. We examine existing theories of fit for collaboration technology and propose a new view, using the theoretical frame of patterns. We argue that this fresh perspective is particularly relevant in the virtual contexts that are so important in the dynamic life of organizations today.