Design, Appropriation, and Unanticipated Users: A Series of Studies to Address the Design, Implementation, and Use of Collaboration Technologies in Workplace Settings.

Abstract

As information technology proliferates all aspects of life, “user experience” and human-centered design approaches become more important. The design process requires the specification of users, their needs, and how technology will support them. Yet, there is evidence that once IT has been released, that there is no control over how it can be used.

This research uses the lens of appropriation, a term invoked to describe unexpected or evolving technology use resulting from user adaptation. Literature in the fields of HCI and IS focus mainly on appropriation as an outcome or as a kind of work to be supported, but always within the scope of target users. I argue that the users we specify may not reflect actual end-users. This dissertation investigates the issue surrounding unanticipated users of IT and what they can mean for theories of design, information systems, and computer-supported cooperative work.

This work investigates the problem of unanticipated users through a series of studies that investigate how staff members at the University of Michigan have adopted a course management system called CTools and thereafter adapted it to their work practices. A survey study and a user log study examine why and how they generally used the toolkit, often referring from data about faculty and students for comparison. Overall, these two studies ways in which staff differed from faculty and students in terms of what they value the system for and in how they use its tools. The final study uses interview to inform why and how staff appropriated Project Sites into their work lives at a time when there was a large shift in the sociotechnical ecosystem of the university. Findings showed that staff depended on a single narrative of use, when others were possible, highlighting the importance of knowledge and leadership in the process of appropriating IT into practice. I use these findings to show that understanding unanticipated users can help to improve design and can also add value to theory.