My work focuses on the emergence and management of conflicts that arise as people attempt to make decisions, solve problems, and learn. I investigate the practices and technologies people implement to regulate and shape their communication and the consequences for how people interact and reason with each other when facing complex situations.

Among the real world sites that I investigate are organizations trying to develop workable information systems, decision-makers trying to sort out disagreement among experts, groups trying to formulate collective action, communities grappling with development issues, couples trying to negotiate divorce settlements, households trying to coordinate the rush of life, and individuals searching for the meaning of good work in their professional practice.

Common among these is a concern with the role and nature of communication to resolve these complex situations. This work connects theory and research on argumentation and social interaction to explain decision-making, conflict resolution, technology, and the organization of work.

My empirical investigations point to the significant attention in contemporary society given to designing communication. This yearning to design communication does not mean, however, that design activity is reflective about the assumptions implemented when people attempt to regulate and shape communication through procedures and technologies. Toward this end, I have, along with my colleagues, begun to further articulate key concepts and premises for understanding communication as an object of design and a process of design.

Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility: An initiative aimed at cultivating communication, information, and media practice that enhances our ability to collectivley manage risks and resources in a globalized, networked world.

Reflector: A web-based tool to support an individual's transition from novice to expert practice through individual and community reflection on work and professional practice.

Communication Work: a collaborative project that articulates the types of communication work performed in society, its consequences, and opportunities for its enhancement.

Collaboration and Communication in Policy Processes: A project examing how Policy Practitioners and Conflict Professionals overcome barriers and resistance to collaboration in policy processes.

Pragmatic Web: A collaboration aimed at understanding how groups, organizations, and communities evolve and manage meaning and commitments in web-based interaction.

Communication and Interaction Laboratory: A research and outreach workbench for examining interaction in communication, information, and media processes.