Collaborating Through Groups

The HyperStudy platform provides robust collaboration features through its group system. Groups allow experimenters to share resources, collaborate on experiments, and manage team access efficiently. This guide explains how to use groups for effective collaboration.

Understanding Experimenter Groups

What Are Groups?

Experimenter groups are collections of users who:

• Share access to experiments and media
• Collaborate on research projects
• Represent real-world teams or departments
• Have unified permission management

Groups typically represent:

• Research labs
• Academic departments
• Project teams
• Institutional divisions
• Course instructors and assistants

Group Hierarchy

The platform supports a flexible group structure:

• Standard Groups: Flat collections of members
• Hierarchical Groups: Groups can have sub-groups
• Cross-Membership: Users can belong to multiple groups
• Administrative Groups: Special groups with elevated permissions

Joining and Managing Groups

Finding Your Groups

To see which groups you belong to:

1. Go to your Experimenter Dashboard
2. Click on "Profile" or navigate to "Groups" section
3. View your current group memberships
4. Check your role within each group

Group Roles

Members can have different roles within a group:

Role	Permissions
Owner	Full control, can add/remove members, delete group
Admin	Can manage members and resources, but can't delete group
Member	Can access shared resources, but can't change group structure
Observer	Read-only access to experiments, cannot edit

Your capabilities depend on your role assignment.

Joining Existing Groups

There are several ways to join groups:

1. Direct Invitation:

   • You receive an email invitation
   • Accept the invitation to join
   • Your account is automatically added to the group

2. Request to Join:

   • Find the group in the Groups Directory
   • Click "Request to Join"
   • Wait for an admin to approve your request

3. Administrator Addition:

   • A group admin adds you directly
   • You receive a notification
   • No action required on your part

Creating New Groups

If you have appropriate permissions:

1. Go to the Groups section
2. Click "Create New Group"
3. Fill in the required information:
   • Group name
   • Description
   • Privacy setting (Public, Discoverable, Private)
   • Optional: parent group
4. Click "Create Group"
5. Add initial members

Managing Group Membership

As a group owner or admin:

1. Go to the group management page
2. Use the Members tab to:
   • Add new members (by email or username)
   • Remove existing members
   • Change member roles
   • View member activity

Members can be added individually or in bulk via CSV import.

Sharing Resources with Groups

Sharing Experiments

To share an experiment with a group:

1. Go to the experiment in Experiment Designer
2. Open the "Permissions" tab
3. Set Visibility to "Group"
4. Select the group(s) to share with
5. Set access level (View, Edit, or Manage)
6. Click "Save Permissions"

Group members will now see the experiment in their dashboard.

Sharing Media

To share media resources:

1. In the Media Library, select the item(s) to share
2. Click "Permissions" or use the info panel
3. Set Visibility to "Group"
4. Select the group(s) to share with
5. Choose read-only or edit access
6. Click "Save"

Folder-Based Sharing

For efficient resource management:

1. Create a folder structure that mirrors your group projects
2. Set group permissions at the folder level
3. All contents automatically inherit these permissions
4. New items added to folders get appropriate permissions

This minimizes manual permission management.

Collaborative Workflows

Experiment Co-Creation

For collaborative experiment development:

1. Create an experiment with group edit permissions
2. Establish clear roles for team members:
   • Design lead for overall structure
   • Content specialists for stimuli and questions
   • Technical implementers for complex components
3. Use the version history to track changes
4. Add detailed notes to document design decisions

Review Processes

For quality assurance:

1. Create review workflows with clear stages:
   • Design review
   • Content review
   • Technical review
   • Final approval
2. Assign specific group members to each review stage
3. Use comments and revision notes for feedback
4. Track review status in shared documentation

Shared Resource Libraries

For efficient resource management:

1. Establish a consistent organization system:
   • Main folders by project or experiment type
   • Subfolders by media type or purpose
   • Clear naming conventions
2. Create and share resource libraries:
   • Standard stimuli sets
   • Common instructions
   • Reusable components
   • Template experiments

Group Configuration and Settings

Group Privacy Levels

Groups can have different visibility settings:

1. Public: Visible to all platform users, open to join requests
2. Discoverable: Visible in directories but joining requires approval
3. Private: Not listed, members can only join by invitation

Permission Management

1. Principle of Least Privilege: Grant only necessary access
2. Role-Based Access: Assign roles based on needs
3. Regular Audits: Review permissions periodically
4. Offboarding Process: Remove access when members leave

Troubleshooting Group Issues

Access Problems

Issue	Potential Solutions
Can't see shared content	Check group membership status; verify resource permissions
Can't edit shared experiment	Verify you have edit permissions, not just view access
Group invitation not received	Check email filters; ask admin to resend invitation
Suddenly lost access	Check for group membership changes; contact group admin

Collaboration Challenges

Issue	Potential Solutions
Conflicting edits	Establish clear editing protocols; coordinate through comments
Unclear responsibilities	Create explicit role assignments; document responsibilities
Inconsistent organization	Establish and document standards; use folder templates
Version confusion	Use version numbering in names; add detailed change notes

Next Steps

Now that you understand collaboration through groups, explore these related topics:

• Media Management