System and method enabling awareness of others working on similar tasks in a computer work environment

A computer system for a plurality of users and providing to a first user a visual representation of selected second users, comprising:

• a plurality of computers, each computer having a plurality of executable applications, each application having a type;
• one of the plurality of computers being a first computer of a first user, the first computer having a first application accessing a first datum at a first time;
• each of the remaining plurality of computers being a second computer of a second user, each second computer having a second application accessing a second datum at a second time;
• the first computer having a first user interface display displaying, for any of a plurality of second applications and any second datum, visual representations of selected second users who are task proximate to the first user, where each selected second user is individually determined to be task proximate to the first user according to at least one relationship from a group comprising:
• a first relationship between the first datum and the second datum;
• a second relationship between a type of the first application and a type of the second application;
• and,
• a third relationship between the first time and the second time;
• and
• the visual representation of each selected second user being periodically gradually, visually transformed from a first visual representation associated with a first level of availability of the selected second user into a second visual representation associated with a second level of availability of the selected second user.

In a computer system for multiple users, where each user has a display device having an interface display, a computer implemented method of providing an awareness of a second user who is task proximate to a first user, comprising:

• determining a first task performed by a first user in a first application that the first user is using;
• determining a second task performed by a second user in any of a plurality of second applications that the second user is using;
• determining whether the first task is task proximate to the second task;
• responsive to the first task being task proximate to the second task, displaying for each user a visual representation of the other user in the interface display associated with each user;
• and
• for each user, periodically gradually visually transforming the visual representation of the other user from a first visual representation associated with a first level of availability of the other user into a second visual representation associated with a second level of availability of the other user.

In a computer system for multiple users, a computer readable memory accessable by a first computer of a first user, the first computer having a processor and a display device, the memory storing at least one computer program executable by the processor that provides an awareness to the first user of a second user who is task proximate to a first user, the computer program controlling the processor to:

• determine a first task performed by a first user in a first application executing on the processor;
• receive a signal indicating a second task performed by a second user in any of a plurality of second applications that the second user is using;
• determine whether the first task is task proximate to the second task;
• responsive to the first task being task proximate to the second task, display a visual representation of the second user in the interface display associated with the computer of the first user;
• and
• periodically gradually visually transforming the visual representation of the second user from a first visual representation associated with a first level of availability of the second user into a second visual representation associated with a second level of availability of the second user.