Shoppers and Tailors: Participative Practices in SmallAustralian Design Companies

  • Authors:
  • Toni Robertson

  • Affiliations:
  • School of Information Systems, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia (E-mail: t.robertson@unsw.edu.au)

  • Venue:
  • Computer Supported Cooperative Work
  • Year:
  • 1998

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Abstract

The focus of this paper is the relations between thework practices and technology needs of smallAustralian design companies and the discourses ofParticipatory Design. Because these companies useoff-the-shelf technology, these relations are shapednot just by factors specific to company size, but alsoby the geographic and cultural separation between thesituation of use and the situation of design. Userparticipation focuses on shopping decisions, and thefitting of purchased technology to the local worksituation. While many aspects of job design can beextremely flexible within small companies,participation in the design of computer systems isbounded by the available products and the options forcontinuing design-in-use that are embedded withinthem. The paper starts from the recognition that participative practices are important in the design ofany job. From this perspective the discourses ofParticipatory Design that are relevant to smallcompanies are those that support the participativedesign of work, irrespective of the national orindustrial location of the people involved.