An Approach to the Evaluation of Usefulness as a Social Construct using Technological Frames Jose Abdelnour Nocera Jose

1. An Approach to the Evaluation of Usefulness as a Social Construct using Technological Frames Jose Abdelnour Nocera Jose.abdelnour-nocera@tvu.ac.uk Lynne Dunckley Lynne.dunckley@tvu.ac.uk Institute for Information Technology Thames Valley University England Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

2. Relevance: Rapid prototyping allows designers to obtain quick feedback with a minimum investment in the early stages of design; however, no valuable information regarding its usefulness can be collected until a broader adoption of the technology. (De Paula, 2003) Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

3. Key objectives: • The use of concept of technological frames to explore how systems acquire their usefulness once deployed in their actual contexts of use. • Bringing the sociology of technology closer to HCI, CSCW and IS research. Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

4. Key characteristics: • An alternative epistemology towards the study of technology and the groups related to it that questions: • The idea of systems having a fixed useful character. • The boundaries between producers and users of IT/ between settings of design and use. Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

5. How many bicycles can you see? • A Unsafe bicycle • A Macho bicycle Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

6. The “working” and “nonworking” of an artifact are socially constructed assessments, rather than intrinsic properties of the artifact. One artifact (in the old sense) comprises different socially constructed artefacts, some of which may be “working” while others are “nonworking”. (Bijker, 1995) Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

7. Interpretative flexibility of Technology: The Metaphor of Technology as Text... “just as the meaning of a written text is not a property of the text, so too the character of technology is not determined by its technical structure” (Mackay,2000) Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

8. Soc. of Tech. offers an epistemology congruent with the study of usefulness of IT as social proxies Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

9. Previous work on studying the usefulness of systems: Information Systems: Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) Davis (1989) -Perceived Usefulness: reduced to idea of performance -Perceived Ease of Use Limitations of Quantitative Methods • Relation to developers responsiveness Gefen, D., & Keil, M. (1998) • Relation to User Interface Characteristics Calisir, F., & Calisir, F. (2004) Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

10. HCI: Nielsen’s view on usefulness Sociology of Technology Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

11. Usefulness as a social construct: • Focused on Meaning (Constructionist Paradigm) instead of PerceivedPerformance (Positivistic Paradigm) • Interpretative flexibility of Technology (Sociology of Technology) Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

12. Usefulness as a social construct: The technological usefulness of software artefacts remains unknown, or known only indirectly, and relies upon improvisations that remain invisible to professional design (Suchman, 2002). Users ‘construct’ technology; they do this both symbolically, in their reading of artefacts, and literally, in the articulation work that is essential before a generic system-product can be used as an artefact supporting day-to-day practices. (Hales, 1993) Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

13. Technological Frame: The core set of assumptions, expectations and knowledge of technology collectively held by a group or group. (Orlikowski and Gash, 1994, p.199) A technological frame comprises all elements that influence the interactions within relevant social groups and lead to the attribution of meaning to technical artifacts- and thus to constituting technology. (Bijker, 1995, p. 123) Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

14. This approach integrates Technological Frames with the concept of Breakdowns: A breakdown is not a negative situation to be avoided, but a situation of non obviousness, in which the recognition that something is missing leads to revealing (generating through our declarations) some aspect of the network of tools that we are engaged in using. Winograd and Flores (1986, p.165-166) (Similar ideas in Situated Action –Suchmann, AT, Hermeneutics) Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

15. Revised Conception of Technological Frames: • Goals • Societal and practical • short and long term • Problems (breakdowns) • Elements of interpretation • Assumptions, knowledge (e.g. problems solving strategies, praxis) and expectations: reflected by people or in discourse • Elements of practice • Any action, practice leading to or responding to the attribution of meaning to technology Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

16. EMPIRICAL WORK • ELSOFT: European based software vendor of standard ERP software (BIZWARE) for small and medium sized organisations, sold around the world • ETNOGRAPHY and QUALITATIVE CASE STUDIES: • RESEARCHER ADOPTED THE ROLE OF “USABILITY CONSULTANT” • Informed Consent issues • Conflicts of roles and “going native”. • ANALYSIS OF THE PROCESS OF USERS’ ROLE IN DEVELOPMENT • APPROPIATON OF BIZWARE IN CUSTOMER SITES IN INDONESIA, HONG KONG, SPAIN AND UNITED KINGDOM. • DATA : • INTERVIEWS, • INTRANET DOCUMENTS, • E-MAILS AND FAXES • PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

17. Why Enterprise Resource Planning Software for SME’s? • Used to support tangible work activities • Standard design used in different cultures • Producers presented it as embodying “best business practice” • Access Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

18. breakdown Stakeholders’ Technological Frames Coping Strategies Natural? Practical? Utility Software Usefulness Usability Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

19. Usefulness of BIZWARE defined with meanings (themes) related to… • Security • Efficiency • Customer Centredness • Situated Usability • Openness • Completeness • Quality of Automation Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

20. Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

21. Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

22. Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

23. Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

24. Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

25. Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology

26. Conclusions: • The definitions of how useful a system is and of the problems it is deemed to solve are not static but negotiable, fluid and subject to the sociocultural perspectives and practices of both producers and users. • Contributions and Further Work: • TF offer qualitative sociological framework that explains how the usefulness of systems is socially constructed. • Analysis framework that can be integrated with novel UCD context-based techniques such as Bill Gaver’s cultural probes. • Reflective approach that can equally consider producers’ and users’ perspectives for the identification of conflicts, e.g. elements of interpretation and practice in RAD methods such as XP and DSDM. Jose Abdelnour Nocera and Lynne Dunckley Thames Valley University - Institute for Information Technology