Designing large-scale communityware: a case study in the Public Opinion Channel

A case study of the design of large-scale communityware called Public Opinion Channel (POC) in a field-test is described. POC is a notion of a community broadcasting system that allows community members to exchange opinions. We report design issues of POC, and community management and analysis issues in the field-test which about 450 households attended. In the design discussion, we describe details of data structure, architecture, and protocols of POC. In the management and analysis discussion, we describe engineering and human effort to prepare log analysis tools, initial contents, and regulations.