Boundary objects help collaborators create shared meaning and coordinate their work across differences. Acknowledging the complex dynamics of such processes, we propose a multimodal alternative to studies’ traditionally static view of boundary objects and ask: How do boundary objects “shape-shift”? How do they emerge in varying forms across visual, verbal, and embodied modes, and in what ways does this “shape-shifting” affect meaning-making? Adopting a “strong” multimodal lens, we show how boundary objects expand in form as collaborative work proceeds through shifting shapes both across and within modes. We also show how they contract over time, reemerging exclusively in some and not other shapes, often in simplified forms. These dynamics both enable and constrain meaning-making. Expanding shapes of the boundary object allow collaborators to develop rich shared understandings. Contracting shapes, in turn, condense meaning-making into efficient communication among those familiarized with the object, yet obscure meaning-making for newcomers who cannot make sense of its contracted shapes. Our study sheds new light on boundary objects’ multimodal nature and demonstrates how objects’ shifting shapes affect meaning-making. More generally, we offer a rich empirical account of how modes enmesh in practice, unveiling their processual and inseparable complexion.

中文翻译：

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变形：边界物体如何影响视觉、语言和具体模式的意义建构

边界对象帮助协作者创建共享意义并跨差异协调他们的工作。认识到此类过程的复杂动态性，我们提出了一种多模态替代研究传统的边界物体静态视图，并提出问题：边界物体如何“变形”？它们如何以不同的形式在视觉、语言和具体模式中出现，这种“形状转变”以何种方式影响意义的形成？采用“强”多模态镜头，我们展示了随着协作工作的进行，边界对象如何通过在模式之间和模式内改变形状来扩展形式。我们还展示了它们如何随着时间的推移而收缩，仅以某些而不是其他形状重新出现，通常以简化的形式。这些动态既促进又限制意义的产生。边界对象的扩展形状使合作者能够形成丰富的共同理解。反过来，收缩的形状将意义的形成浓缩为熟悉该物体的人之间的有效沟通，但对于无法理解其收缩的形状的新手来说，意义的形成却变得模糊。我们的研究为边界物体的多模态性质提供了新的线索，并展示了物体形状的变化如何影响意义的形成。更一般地说，我们提供了关于模式如何融入实践的丰富的经验说明，揭示了它们的过程和不可分割的面貌。