This article examines the challenges of designing AI-enabled welfare allocation systems in public administration, with a focus on the ontological issues that arise in a co-design process. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a Danish municipality, the study explores how social workers and IT designers struggled to align their respective understandings of a welfare benefit called ‘loss of earnings’. While IT designers sought to structure case work as a predictable, rule-based process suitable for symbolic AI modelling, social workers emphasised the need for discretionary freedom in terms of not only case outcomes but also work processes. This mismatch led to ontological trouble, where fundamental differences in what welfare allocation is—and ought to be—persistently shaped the co-design process. The article highlights that digital transformation in public administration is not just a technical challenge but may also be an ontological one, requiring digital design to navigate multiple, conflicting realities. Second, it demonstrates that co-design does not always lead to mutual learning but may instead expose persistent friction between stakeholders' worldviews. Third, it argues that rather than resolving ontological differences, co-design should create spaces for articulating and negotiating them, helping to safeguard values such as professional discretion and holistic decision-making in AI-enabled welfare services. The findings underscore the need for CSCW scholars and practitioners to engage with the ontological dimensions of AI design critically, ensuring that digital transformation respects the complexities of public sector work.
Members of cooperative groups can work together more effectively if they develop a shared classification schema, but distributed groups face barriers to doing so. To better understand how classifications and classification practices can emerge and support the work of distributed groups, we review the literature on folksonomies (a kind of shared classification schema) in crowdsourcing projects (one type of distributed work). The review yields three potentially productive tensions associated with the development of folksonomies in crowdsourcing projects. First, projects must establish who has the authority to decide on adopted terminology and with what consequences. Second, there can be tension if people who tag objects have different interests in tagging than those who use the tags to search for content. Finally, projects must decide when to intervene to maintain a balance between a stable vocabulary and the ability of the project to accommodate ongoing changes. We illustrate these tensions by comparing how they are handled in the photo-sharing site Flickr, the story-sharing site Archive of Our Own (AO3), the internet culture classification site Know Your Meme, and the citizen science project Gravity Spy. The comparison suggests guidelines for project managers regarding the identified tensions.
The smooth functioning of the gig economy relies on gig workers’ local execution of tasks assigned by global platforms like Uber. Within this broader workforce, gig drivers (e.g., rideshare and delivery workers) draw on their local knowledge – information and skills specific to a particular region – to navigate and optimize routes. Building on a substantial body of research on gig work, this study turns attention to how gig drivers develop and deploy knowledge practices within the gig economy infrastructure. To address this, we analyzed 25 semi-structured interviews, revealing how drivers’ knowledge practices enable them to adapt platform systems to local conditions, develop algorithmic-local knowledge by integrating insights about platform behavior and market dynamics, and strategically regulate knowledge exchange with peers. We discuss how such knowledge practices play a critical role in localizing platform work, bridging the gaps between gig platforms’ global standards and local conditions.
This study addresses an unexplored intersection of vocational education and training (VET), motor skill learning, craftsmanship and the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry as well as expertise sharing. Acquiring proficiency in craftsmanship involves not only theoretical knowledge but also a multitude of physical skills, such as chiselling, which are honed through repetition. Mastering these manual skills and combining them with knowledge of materials, such as wood, is essential for an effective executing of craftmanship. We developed an augmented reality (AR) prototype through the design case study approach to design a support for beginners, especially apprentices, in woodworking education where the connection between craftspeople and material is important for the end results. The prototype was evaluated by 28 apprentices inside and outside a woodwork shop setting. While participants praised the prototype’s 3D visualisations and interactive models, challenges in compatibility with woodwork shop environments were evident. Our findings highlight the importance of on-site evaluations in the craftsmanship context and the significance of direct interaction with real world materials. We provide a set of seven design guidelines derived from our empirical findings to inform the development of AR-based learning applications in craftsmanship. Our discussion opens up the question of the role of interactive 3D models for collaborative learning. The research extends AR’s impact in craftsmanship and AEC industry. Our study underscores the importance of expert knowledge in handling certain materials and the potential of AR to reshape work practices and visualisations, contributing to expertise sharing in this domain.
Funding policies for data infrastructure promote open data sharing to drive positive social impact. However, concerns regarding the long-term management of data within and across distributed infrastructures can hinder data sharing. We draw upon the concept of polycentric governance to demonstrate how collaborative practices of data curation, in preparing and maintaining data for (future) sharing, provide a solid foundation for understanding data governance within data infrastructures. Based on a qualitative case study of a distributed ecological network, we investigate the conditions under which data are managed as a shared resource by local actors to ensure the long-term (re)usability of data. We contribute to CSCW by conceptualising data curation as a complex form of governance practice with multiple centres of decision-making, each of which operates with some degree of autonomy in data infrastructures. A polycentric governance lens on data infrastructures advances the CSCW conception of data curation as a collective governance practice that can cultivate a data democracy culture within and across organisations, empower individuals to be accountable for their data, and foster a mindset shift toward decentralised data governance.
The huge and ever-increasing amount of publicly available data is shaping the data-driven society that citizens are encouraged to tame. It requires future generations, i.e., current learners, to acquire data literacy skills to make informed decisions. Towards this direction, we present a data literacy workshop involving more than $$\varvec{150}$$ 150 high school learners focused on co-creating Open Data via a digital environment and authoring data stories while evaluating their engagement and learning. Results show that participants are, on average, engaged during the in-person stages of the workshops, independently by gender, and they are mainly interested in collaborative activities, hands-on, and public presentations. This experiment confirm that learning is positively correlated with engagement, which aligns with the literature. However, further efforts should be invested in letting learners master data literacy skills while increasing their interest.
The paper explores the nuanced use of computational artefacts in shaping the cooperative work practices of academic library managers. Grounded in a focused ethnographic study involving 21 middle managers from two academic libraries in Sweden and Australia, the research employed participant observation, formal and informal interviews, and document review. The empirical material was thematically analyzed within a conceptual framework using recognized computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) concepts to better understand a specific managerial context. We demonstrate how academic library managers engage in cooperative work practices, emphasizing the central role of computational artefacts. The observed cooperative practices, encompassing collaboration, communication, coordination, and decision-making, were conceptualized through the developed ‘3A Framework’ and highlight the interconnectedness of articulation work, awareness, and appropriation within a managerial context. Articulation work emerged as crucial for coordinating various activities, managing interdependencies, and ensuring a seamless workflow. Awareness played a vital role in supporting collaboration and minimizing disruptions, facilitated by computational artefacts. Appropriation, a dynamic and context-dependent process, underscored the evolving nature of managers' engagement with computational artefacts. The research contributes to our understanding of managerial work by offering insights into the dynamic, complex, and contextualized nature of their cooperative efforts in academic library settings. The ‘3A Framework’ serves as a tool for conceptualizing and analyzing the interconnected concepts of articulation work, awareness, and appropriation, shedding light on the nuanced interplay of these elements. The research also offers modest practical implications for management and library domains in computational artefact-mediated settings.
High-quality hospital care requires careful medication management. The infrastructure in place to avert errors in medication management involves formal work procedures, elaborate electronic systems, and, we argue, continual repair work. Repair is the work required to restore things to working order after a breakdown. In this study, we analyze the repair work performed by the healthcare professionals tasked with two electronically supported medication-management processes at hospitals in Norway: medication reconciliation and closed-loop medication management. On the basis of interviews and supplementary material, we find that the repair work involved in these two activities is collaborative, continuous, and critical. It is collaborative in that it is performed by physicians, pharmacists, and nurses and, thereby, neither assigned to a single person nor to a group of designated repairers. It is continuous because the repairs do not fix the causes of the breakdowns but merely restore the individual instance of medication management to working order. It is critical in the double sense that repair work is a requirement for quality medication management and that quality repair work is also a requirement. We discuss the implications of the repair work, including the consequences of variation in the achieved level of repairedness.
Handled by a constellation of public and private institutions, the COVID-19 vaccine infrastructure in the U.S. was largely fragmented when it first emerged. By looking into the early phases of the COVID-19 vaccination distribution among older adults in the U.S. state of Florida, this work attends to the “last-mile logistics” of vaccine infrastructure—the final leg of distribution, where vaccines meet their intended end consumers. Drawing on in-depth interviews with older adults and the volunteers who supported them in securing vaccination appointments, we illustrate the complexities of the last mile and the challenges faced by older adults in navigating distribution. We then demonstrate how volunteers and older adults came together as an emerging assemblage to collectively perform what we term “last-mile work”—a specific form of infrastructuring undertaken in the last mile to resolve localized logistic or operational challenges within a larger infrastructural arrangement. This paper introduces last-mile work as a critical yet under-theorized form of infrastructuring that is indispensable to infrastructure’s everyday function. We argue that last-mile work offers an important analytical lens and empirical site for future infrastructural investigations in CSCW research and design. It creates new entry points to rethink the assumed relationships between infrastructuring work and temporal breakdowns, while also surfacing critical questions of labor, power, and (in)visibility within the last mile of infrastructures.
Food delivery platforms have thrived under the empowerment of algorithmic technology, but the dominance of technology has largely overshadowed our understanding of delivery workers. This study delves into the in-depth dynamics between food delivery workers and the algorithms. Focusing on four core systems—navigation, time estimation, order distribution, and customer rating—we reveal how these supposedly efficient systems often challenge the practice and autonomy of delivery workers and uncover the creative strategies workers employ to outmaneuver algorithmic constraints. Our findings spotlight a critical tension between algorithmic control and worker autonomy, highlighting the urgent need for platforms to adopt more transparent, flexible, and worker-centered designs. By reframing how these systems interact with human labor, this research offers a fresh perspective on the future of gig economy platforms, urging stakeholders to rethink algorithmic fairness in a way that empowers workers rather than constrains them.
This study details how digital biodiversity data is used and gains meaning in local restoration projects, how these experiences contrast with large-scale innovation patterns, and what new design recommendations emerge from these insights. Digital innovations in biodiversity technologies are increasingly complex, fast-paced, and driven by technological capacities where data generation rather than biodiversity restoration risks becoming the primary goal. Focusing on a biodiversity restoration project with a living lab community in the Netherlands, this participatory research critically examines how plans for emerging technologies, such as biodiversity simulations and digital twins, contrast with local user relations to biodiversity data. Building on qualitative insights from six-months of fieldwork, a digital and physical data portal was designed to simulate ongoing technoscientific innovation and make their complex effects experientially available to users. Findings are brought directly in conversation with emerging technical features through four distinct themes with the aim to share user-insights and produce design recommendations for: environmental storytelling, prediction and future making, interactive dynamics, and simulation aesthetics. These themes articulate the community's preferences towards digital environments that support their nuanced, complex relationships with local biodiversity, suggesting a shift from top-down technocentric approaches to more community-driven and restoration-focused models. Based on this study, design recommendations are articulated for each of these four themes contributing detailed empirical and practice-oriented insights that propose how new biodiversity technologies can resonate more effectively with local biodiversity restoration efforts.
In this paper, we revisit the issues surrounding the lack of gender diversity in computing and build a theory on the roles and effects of genders in computing. Our intention is to transform human experiences with computing technologies to more equitably reflect and represent diversity. To support gender diversity in design, we work to create an integrated trans-feminist theory. In doing so we draw from diverse fields, including English, psychology, philosophy, cultural theory, law, medicine, and feminist, queer, disability, indigenous, post-colonial, Black, and Chicana studies. We show how and why marginalized people need to develop our own languages and voices as a step in empowering our identities. We assemble quantitative data showing the paucity of people with historically marginalized genders in computer science education and in our best papers. We use the participation gap in computing, combined with the mental health impact, to argue that computing, as a field, needs to critically examine our cis/heteronormative tendencies, which perpetuate a vicious cycle of erasure, and instead frame scholarship in terms of gender identities and presentations.
Pregnant women in the Global South face significant challenges due to lack of resources and informational gaps. In this paper, we take an assets-based lens to examine the experiences of pregnant women in a low-resource setting in Ghana, focusing on the role of information and technology in prenatal care. Through interviews and co-design workshops, we sought to understand the perspectives of multiple stakeholders including pregnant women, their family members, and healthcare professionals. We highlight the complexities involved in making decisions during pregnancy, including the challenges arising from the tensions between traditional healthcare practices and modern Western health services. We discuss opportunities in digital maternal health where we argue for the importance of attending to local needs and values and advocate for recognising community strengths and integrating rural care practices as valuable assets in prenatal intervention design. Our work aims to bridge some of the gaps between the theoretical understanding of digital health and the practical realities of prenatal care in low-resource settings.
With the remarkable structural changes that many sectors of the industry are currently experiencing with the advent and introduction of new digital technologies and the push that they are receiving from assorted agendas concerning industrial developments – as those connected with digital transformation and the so-called Industry 5.0 – it sensible to think that different aspects concerning cooperative work will be subject to changes, especially when it comes to issues associated with the use and appropriation of digital technologies. In this contribution, we address the concept of awareness and how it has been impacted by the continuous process of digitalisation and digital transformation within the industry under a practice-centred computing perspective. The study is based on an in-depth interview study featuring 19 participants across 11 different-sized manufacturing companies from the metalworking industry and other related sectors. The data was transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis. Subsequently, we discuss how not only awareness, but also motivation and leadership in production systems have been continuously impacted by these structural changes, at times in a negative way. We elaborate on our findings and reflect upon how existing CSCW notions, as coordination mechanisms, common information spaces and articulation spaces can be used to inform the design of new technologies that could enhance awareness and mitigate potentially negative impacts. In particular, we extend the notion of articulation spaces to include the role of a group mediator, which has been found relevant to support cooperation in industrial settings undergoing digital transformation.
We demonstrate how Research through Art (RtA) extends the CSCW agenda to include considerations of “work as a mental-emotional experience” complementing “work as a practice.” We do this by documenting how one art piece, Multiviews, was created in connection to a workplace and later displayed in different circumstances and contexts, producing the art piece as a sociomaterial entity. As a sociomaterial entity, Multiviews allowed organizational members to engage with the elusive phenomenon “the future of work” in novel ways, informing us as CSCW researchers about the importance of including the mental-emotional experience of work when designing cooperative technologies. Multiviews pushed the notion of “comfort” from a physical consideration on ergonomics and practicalities to bring the emotional experience of comfort into the center of attention, prompting people to imagine the workplace as a mental experience as well as a physical or digital place. Reflecting upon our unorthodox methods of collaborating with an artist in the CSCW study, and the role which the art piece played in the collaboration, we suggest extending CSCW research vocabulary on boundary objects in cooperative work with the concept of the boundary rogue to describe how the fundamental strangeness of the artwork as a sociomaterial entity made it function as a collaborative artifact uniquely productive across the multiple contexts: work, art, and research, providing new types of insights.
Video games have been a unique study context for computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) researchers for decades. However, despite their collaborative richness, CSCW has not yet developed a systematic understanding of video games as a site for studying cooperation and social interaction—limiting its ability to engage with the increasingly social, digital, and playful nature of work. Particularly, what are the academic characteristics of video game studies? What topics are studied in the context of video games? And what are the unique facets of the video game context? To answer these questions, we conducted a systematic literature review by analyzing 67 studies of video games published in CSCW outlets between 1998 and 2023. We describe these studies’ academic characteristics and the topics studied in the context of video games through seven themes. We further identify six unique facets of collaborative work that scholars gain through game studies. We conclude that video games not only serve as an empirically rich site for examining and enriching existing CSCW theories and frameworks, but also constitute unique and oftentimes novel sociotechnical configurations that recontextualize CSCW. We further point to gaps, opportunities, and future directions for CSCW researchers interested in exploring the diverse social and collaborative dynamics in games, thus contributing to a more inclusive and expansive understanding of collaboration in digitally mediated environments.
Successfully making civic datasets accessible to communities involves more than hosting them on a website. There are entire infrastructures that need to be aligned to ensure that those who need these datasets can access them in a timely, usable, and efficient manner. In this article, I use data ethnographies to unpack the operational context of a community’s civic data. This operational context I describe includes the data idiosyncrasies, forms of work, and capital that I engaged with during the data infrastructuring process. Such an operational context, as Loukissas argues, is a consequence of the settings from which data are extracted, is required to better understand the shortcomings in the data, and can help us draw more accurate conclusions from them. This article serves as a reminder of how data are never raw but are determined by the politics of data economy in which they operate. Such data are bound to the context from which they are generated, where meaning is negotiated by the multiple sociotechnical elements involved. Overall, this article contributes to scholarship about data infrastructures in the field of CSCW and the work that goes into operationalizing them.
Teaching has often been characterized as a “labor of love.” Despite their passion, teachers often find themselves underpaid and unrecognized, leading them to engage in taxing emotional labor. Emotional labor in traditional educational settings is not new. However, teaching as online gig work has become increasingly data-driven and transnational. With the burgeoning popularity of online educational industries in China, U.S. teachers are entering the transitional gig economy to teach students, parents, and educational standards in cross-cultural contexts. Based on 24 semi-structured interviews with U.S. teachers who worked on Chinese gig-education platforms, this paper documents their challenges and how such platforms reconfigure their emotional labor, enabling them to reaffirm their identities as teachers and caregivers and rekindle the passion that gave their lives purpose and meaning. However, these platforms, underpinned by Chinese cultural values and data-driven technologies (e.g., datafication, algorithms, and surveillance) — which we dub transnational emotional computing — demand emergent forms of emotional labor with which participants must contend. This work contributes to a human-centered conceptualization of identity alignment and carries theoretical and design implications for the future of transnational gig platforms, especially for cross-cultural digital knowledge labor.
This paper investigates the types of work that unemployed youths perform as part of their obligations to the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (WA) while receiving services and financial benefits. Our findings identify two primary categories of work: the use of digital self-services for mainly administrative purposes and the relational work involving interactions with advisors and other clients. We found that digital self-services often delegate small, fragmented tasks to clients, which are perceived as mechanisms of control. In contrast, the relational interactions are experienced as valuable support, assisting clients in navigating and progressing their situation. We discuss the nature and implications of digital self-service work and propose design alternatives aimed at enhancing clients’ understanding of the employment process, emphasizing the importance of task significance within a wider context. Additionally, we examine the role and limitations of digital self-service within public welfare administration, particularly in assisting clients facing challenging life circumstances. To address the complex issue of youth unemployment, we suggest a participatory approach, aiming to help young individuals break the ‘loop of unemployment.’
