User customization of a word processor
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Considering an organization's memory
CSCW '98 Proceedings of the 1998 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work
Augmenting organizational memory: a field study of answer garden
ACM Transactions on Information Systems (TOIS)
“Let's see your search-tool!”—collaborative use of tailored artifacts in groupware
GROUP '99 Proceedings of the international ACM SIGGROUP conference on Supporting group work
Tailoring as Collaboration: The Mediating Role of Multiple Representations and ApplicationUnits
Computer Supported Cooperative Work
Between the dazzle of a new building and its eventual corpse: assembling the ubiquitous home
DIS '04 Proceedings of the 5th conference on Designing interactive systems: processes, practices, methods, and techniques
Component-based technologies for end-user development
Communications of the ACM - End-user development: tools that empower users to create their own software solutions
Behind the help desk: evolution of a knowledge management system in a large organization
CSCW '04 Proceedings of the 2004 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work
Making things work: dimensions of configurability as appropriation work
CSCW '06 Proceedings of the 2006 20th anniversary conference on Computer supported cooperative work
Viable wikis: struggle for life in the wikisphere
Proceedings of the 2007 international symposium on Wikis
Component-based tailorability: Enabling highly flexible software applications
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
The confusion of crowds: non-dyadic help interactions
Proceedings of the 2008 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work
Troubles with the internet: the dynamics of help at home
Human-Computer Interaction
Computer help at home: methods and motivations for informal technical support
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Collaborative help in chronic disease management: supporting individualized problems
Proceedings of the ACM 2012 conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work
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In this paper, we seek to advance the research around utilizing collaborative help for supporting individualized use of technologies. We do this by shedding light on the ways that users of MythTV, a highly flexible open-source software system for home entertainment enthusiasts, collaboratively help one another in maintaining their individualized MythTV systems. By analyzing the MythTV user community's mailing list archive, documentation, and wiki, coupled with user interviews we discuss how the community utilizes configuration artifacts as proxies to easily mobilize and exchange knowledge. While exchanging concrete artifacts such as scripts and configuration files was seen to sometimes increase the efficiency of knowledge transfer, it also presented several challenges. Negotiating the transparency of configuration artifacts, navigating the customization and appropriation gulfs, and aligning usage trajectories all emerged as problematic areas. We discuss design implications that address these challenges. Our findings provide a crucial understanding for how to support users in their individualized use of systems.