Troubling futures: can participatory design research provide a generative anthropology for the 21st century?

This essay argues there is value in considering participatory design as a form of generative anthropology at a time when we recognise that we need not only to understand cultures but to change them towards sustainable living. Holding up the democratically-oriented practices of some participatory design research to definitions of anthropology allows the essay to explore the role of intervention in social process. And, challenging definitional boundaries, the essay examines design as a participatory tool for cultural change, creating and interogating futures (and the idea of futures). In analysing how designing moves towards change in the world, the essay brings together design research and concepts from anthropology to help us better understand and operationalise our interventions and pursue them in a fair and sustainable manner

CRM packaged software: a study of organisational experiences

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) packaged software has become a key contributor to attempts at aligning business and IT strategies in recent years. Throughout the 1990s there was, in many organisations strategies, a shift from the need to manage transactions and toward relationship management. Where Enterprise Resource Planning packages dominated the management of transactions era, CRM packages lead in regard to relationships. At present, balanced views of CRM packages are scantly presented instead relying on vendor rhetoric. This paper uses case study research to analyse some of the issues associated with CRM packages. These issues include the limitations of CRM packages, the need for a relationship orientation and the problems of a dominant management perspective of CRM. It is suggested that these issues could be more readily accommodated by organisational detachment from beliefs in IT as utopia, consideration of prior IS theory and practice and a more informed approach to CRM package selection

Morphological Cues for Lexical Semantics

Most natural language processing tasks require lexical semantic information. Automated acquisition of this information would thus increase the robustness and portability of NLP systems. This paper describes an acquisition method which makes use of fixed correspondences between derivational affixes and lexical semantic information. One advantage of this method, and of other methods that rely only on surface characteristics of language, is that the necessary input is currently available

Risky business: when a CRM vendor masqueraded as an ERP specialist

Taking a social shaping perspective we unpack the development trajectory of a packaged software product to show, that contrary to mainstream accounts, design is not completely specified a-priori and that the process continues throughout implementation, and use. We show how developers, in this case third party vendors, can continue to engage in shaping packages during implementation and also how users contribute to the development effort. In particular, we illustrate how a customer relationship management package application targeted at a particular organisational function was configured to make an enterprise wide system and the key role of the vendor in this effort. To do this we refer to a 3- year qualitative field study of an expanding United Kingdom based consultancy company undergoing extreme ICT related change. This empirical research is used to explore an often ignored phenomenon, that of the role of vendors in appropriating ICTs and the potential risks they bring. Through this, we highlight the plight and responsibilities of low-level organisational actors in this process in cognisance of the fact they usually have a minor role in ICT selection but become a major player in dealing with vendors at the implementation stage when the devil is truly in the detail. The risks we identify relate to: vendor sales pitches of products as specifically related to their capabilities and the products they put forward; the calling upon of organisational resources by vendors; vendor knowledge of the application are and the actual ‘social’, ‘technical’ and ‘organisational’ capabilities of vendors to deliver a working product. We also point to the risks managers in vendor and consumer organisations create by placing their staff in difficult conditions within appropriation processes. The implications of our work centre on the need for further research related to: vendor/developer risks of packaged software, custom and open source projects; notions of professionalism and ethics in the software industry and project working conditions

Designing for e-Social Action An Application Taxonomy

In this paper, we present a taxonomy for understanding designs and designing of Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) in the field of ‘Social Action’. We use the term ‘Social Action’ to refer to activities of individuals and organisations in civil society, which are oriented towards social (rather than primarily economic) goals. We then apply the term e-Social Action to refer to the application of ICT in these activities. This definition incorporates a wide range of initiatives, varying from: trade-unions logging safety inspections on ships, Age Concern York organising volunteers to place on-line supermarket orders on behalf of housebound elderly people; the International Red Cross using logistics software to deliver emergency aid; and Martus.org providing technology to enable victims of human-rights abuse to report their experience whilst protecting their anonymity and thus avoiding reprisals. To study designing in this broad space, it is necessary to understand key dimensions of the settings where designing takes place. The aim of this paper is to examine how information and communication technologies in social action can be understood, classified and distinguished, to allow for more refined explorations of designing in this space. Keywords: e-SocialAction, Taxonomy, design and society</p

Engaging Students and Faculty in the Evaluation of a USMLE Review Product: Implications for Library Collection Development

Introduction: Study materials for USMLE exams are some of the most commonly requested materials at Dana Medical Library. In Fall 2015, the Dana Medical Library received several student requests for online USMLE preparation materials. Librarians arranged for a trial of a new USMLE test preparation software available for library licensing. Librarians designed a plan for soliciting student and faculty feedback to inform the purchasing decision. Methods: The Dana Medical Library ran a 4-week trial of the USMLE preparation software. Students and faculty were notified of the product trial through meetings, e-mail, signs in the library and social media. Trial participants were invited to complete an anonymous survey at the end of the trial. Survey questions addressed ease of use, quality of content, effectiveness in test preparation, and recommendation for or against purchase. Results: Forty students and faculty members participated in the trial. Eighteen responded to the survey (45% response rate). Survey respondents were divided over a recommendation for purchase, with 50% advising against purchase, 37.5% advising for purchase with reservations and 12.5% recommending purchase. Twenty-five percent indicated there were errors in the content. Feedback on the ease of use, quality of questions, and overall performance was also mixed. Conclusions: Engaging students and faculty in an online trial provided valuable feedback. Librarians will continue to evaluate and trial new exam review products in collaboration with students and faculty

The Panopticon and the performance arena: HCI reaches within

The impact of new technologies is hard to predict. We suggest the value of theories of performativity in understanding dynamics around the convergence of biomedical and information technology. Drawing on the ideas of Butler and Foucault, we discuss a new, internal, context for HCI and raise potentially disturbing issues with monitoring health. We argue that by adopting explicitly social framings we can see beyond the idea of medical interventions to tools for wellbeing and recognize more of the implications of looking within