  Initiating conversations with new people at work is often intimidating
because of uncertainty about their interests. People worry others may reject
their attempts to initiate conversation or that others may not enjoy the
conversation. We introduce a new system, Nooks, built on Slack, that reduces
fear of social evaluation by enabling individuals to initiate any conversation
as a nook -- a conversation room that identifies its topic, but not its
creator. Automatically convening others interested in the nook, Nooks further
reduces fears of social evaluation by guaranteeing individuals in advance that
others they are about to interact with are interested in the conversation. In a
multi-month deployment with participants in a summer research program, Nooks
provided participants with non-threatening and inclusive interaction
opportunities, and ambient awareness, leading to new interactions online and
offline. Our results demonstrate how intentionally designed social spaces can
reduce fears of social evaluation and catalyze new workplace connections.
