Designing for Diverse User Groups

Case Study of a Language Archive

Bibliographic Data

ID2506938
AuthorsChristina Wasson, Melanie Medina, Miyoung Chong (0000-0002-6760-6678), Brittany Lemay, Emma Nalin, Kenneth Saintonge
Year2018
Volume7
Issue2
Pages235-267
Publication date2018-11-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Business Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2245-4217 • E-ISSN: 2245-4217
PublisherCopenhagen Business School (PUBLISHER • DK)
DOI10.22439/jba.v7i2.5605
OpenAlexW2900478409
LanguageEN
References cited12

This article explores the challenges of designing large-scale computing systems for multiple, diverse user groups. Such computing systems house large, complex datasets, and often provide analytic tools to interpret the data. They are increasingly central to activities in industry, science, and government agencies, and are often associated with 'big data,' data warehousing, and/or scientific 'cyberinfrastructure'. A key characteristic of these systems is the diversity and multiplicity of their intended user groups, which may range from various scientific disciplines, to assorted business functions, to government officials and citizen groups. These user groups occupy structurally different positions in local and global political economies, and bring different forms of expertise to the data housed in the computing system. We argue that design anthropologists can contribute to the usefulness of such systems by engaging in collaborative ethnographic research with the targeted user groups, and communicating findings to the designers and developers creating these systems

Cyberinfrastructure · User group · Innovative Human-Technology Interaction · Social Media and Politics · Wikis in Education and Collaboration

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