Technology non-affordances: exploring the political interactions in the designer-user-technology trip
Recent developments in HCI affordance literature link the material and the discursive with a relational approach. Building on this, I explore the role of discursive power in the interactions in designer-user-technology trio. Using a year-long interpretive case study, I examine redesigning of a ubiquitous IT, Enterprise System (ES), in an India-based multinational organization. I characterize this context as an encounter between ES-inscribed culture and the contrasting culture of the user-organization. Based on grounded data analysis, “technology non-affordance” emerged as a lens that can explain the following: how IT consultants, as spokespersons for designers, shape user understanding of system limitations and the situated meaning of technology to their advantage, scuttling the development of a culturally-inclusive design. I identify various political strategies including marginalization of dissenting voices. Sustained user resistance to this shaping finally led to a culturally inclusive ES design. This illustrates the feedback utility of user resistance in developing culturally-inclusive designs.
Authors: | Kandathil, George |
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Institutions: | Economics, Indian Institute of Management |
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