computer "upgrades"

Susan Leigh Star (s-star1 who-is-at uiuc.edu)
Wed, 27 Aug 1997 13:18:16 -0600

It happens with big kids too (I study scientists). On a study I did
co-designing a system for a community of biologists, one of the major
factors in the system's failure (to be used) was the persistent overlooking
of infrastructure by the designers. Very few designers really think about
EVERYTHING that's involved in getting a system working. One obvious
example is the introduction of networked computers into schools without
telephone lines in the classrooms. The upgrade phenomenon is a kind of
infrastructural arrogance.

Edouard, I really agree with what you say, "Unfortunately, the problem
isn't a simple refocusing of research time (as if we could control our
funding sources :-(.) Software and Hardware
development is a very complex and autonomous field. Trying to get anyone
to span that boundary usually results in the person being snatched up by
industry or getting kicked back into academia." The bridging process is so
difficult (glancing down at my scar tissue)....

I wonder how to talk about the mediating aspects of infrastructure, and the
tangles of communication between developers, communities of practice of end
users, and those selling the stuff.

L*

Reference: Susan Leigh Star and Karen Ruhleder, "Steps toward an Ecology
of Infrastructure: Design and Access for Large Information Spaces,"
Information Systems Research, Volume 7:1 (1996), 111-134.

***************************************
Susan Leigh Star
address until January 15, 1998:

539 Summit Drive
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Phone: (408) 454-9218 (h) (408) 454-0965 (w)
FAX: (217) 244-3302 email: s-star1 who-is-at uiuc.edu
---------
It seems so simple
when things or people
have modified each other's qualities
somewhat;
we almost forget the oddity
of that.
--Kay Ryan (The New Yorker, August 7, 1995)