7 research outputs found

    Visual practices and the objects used in design

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    Recent interest in material objects – the things of everyday interaction – has led to articulations of their role in the literature on organizational knowledge and learning. What is missing is a sense of how the use of these ‘things’ is patterned across both industrial settings and time. This research addresses this gap with a particular emphasis on visual materials. Practices are analysed in two contrasting design settings: a capital goods manufacturer and an architectural firm. Materials are observed to be treated both as frozen, and hence unavailable for change; and as fluid, open and dynamic. In each setting temporal patterns of unfreezing and refreezing are associated with the different types of materials used. The research suggests that these differing patterns or rhythms of visual practice are important in the evolution of knowledge and in structuring social relations for delivery. Hence, to improve their performance practitioners should not only consider the types of media they use, but also reflect on the pace and style of their interactions

    Reshaping practice across media: material mediation, medium specificity and practical knowledge in judicial work

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    Material mediation and medium specificity are constitutive dimensions of a practice, having critical implications for the constitution of practical knowledge and the forms of institutionalization. This article explores their critical importance in a bureaucratized professional setting. Based on research findings from an in-depth study of the introduction of video-recording technology in criminal courts, the article investigates what happens in a practice when practitioners migrate to a different medium to perform their work. The findings indicate that when the practice is characterized by high medium specificity, the new medium may cause disruption in the domain of expertise, affecting the familiar objects, tools, routines and representations of the practice. In their efforts to make sense of the new medium and integrate the new work tool, practitioners reshape their practice by directly engaging with the medium and questioning the grounds of their domain of expertise. The article discusses the phenomenology of disruption and redesign, draws implications for judicial work and, more broadly, contributes to an understanding of how practices and practical knowledge are entangled with material mediation
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