Transcript Document 7612672

HCC class
lecture 19 comments
John Canny
4/4/05
Administrivia
No class on Wednesday – CHI
Social networks (next reading) should be online
Friday.
Knowledge Ecologies

Sometimes bundled as part of “Actor-Network Theory,”
draws on a similar tradition to Latour – anthropological
and sociological studies of science.

The “ecology” metaphor is used by Susan Leigh-Star,
Bonnie Nardi and Vicky O’Day. A different emphasis from
Latour – more concern about social groups
(communities of practice), centers of power and the
boundaries between them.

Another key figure in this line of research is Donna
Haraway, author of “A Cyborg Manifesto”.
Immutable Mobiles

Kinds of artifacts that convey essentially the same
meaning independent of context:
– Maps
– Math equations
– Charts, graphs etc.

Far more prevalent in science than in other realms of
human endeavor.

They don’t require knowledge of the writer’s context or
background, as do novels or many other texts.
Immutable Mobiles
Semiotics introduced a number of concepts to think about
immutable mobiles. These include:
 Realism: the philosophical perspective that things exist
in the world independent of words.
 Modality: the degree of truth or reality of a sign. I.M.s
are at the extreme end of realism – the signifier is
supposed to unambiguously denote the thing.
 Readerly (vs. Writerly) texts: the meaning of the text
is clear to the reader.
The discussion of “modality” explicitly separated the “map”
from the “territory”. So does Piaget’s work: there is a
specific stage when children understand how to navigate
the neighborhood first-hand, but not using a map.
Layered Representations

Seems to mirror Latour’s idea of “black boxes”

The representations are exposed as one opens up the
boxes.

Some are opaque (unopened), while others are
exposed.
Formalism and Distance

Star’s focus is on what happens at a distance, as
immutable mobiles cross social boundaries.

As we saw with Wenger’s readings, many objects
intended as “immutable mobiles,” such as insurance
claim forms, are anything but that. The desire for
formalism apparently faces insurmountable obstacles.

Fortunately, there are still people in the loop to figure
out what to do.
Formalism and Distance

Any push towards greater formalism should be matched
by a greater understanding of the group work context.

i.e. in order to make “mobiles” really mobile, one must
understand the resources and conventions at the likely
sources and destinations.
Freezing Representations

In reality, the layered representations used in a complex
organization tend to move by themselves.

A natural strategy to force stability is to “freeze” various
parts of the representation with specifications or
standards.

Put another way, design is about making progressive
commitments. In practice these commitments are not
made top-down, or bottom-up, but at arbitrary levels
driven by all the constraints in the system.
Boundary Objects

Boundary objects are artifacts that mediate the
interaction between different work-groups, or
communities of practice.

Rather than spanning time and space arbitrarily (as
immutable mobiles), they mediate between specific
communities.

But otherwise they share similar properties. In general,
the more “concrete” they are, the better.
Brokering

Boundary objects, as the term suggests, are “objects”.

Boundaries can also be mediated by people, called
“brokers.” These people “speak” the language of two or
more communities, and it is understood that their role
includes mediation between them.

Brokering is a complex role which involves reconciling
perspectives and philosophies. It is a difficult political
space since the foci of power are in “centers” of
discipline or perspective.
Brokering

Brokers are often in a difficult situation since they must
represent the views of a conflicting or a competing
group, but must avoid “taking sides”.

Brokers often form “communities of practice” of their
own to address these issues.
Discussion Topics
T1: List some boundary objects that you routinely work
with. What are the communities between which these
objects mediate? Are there brokers as well?
T2: Suppose you wanted to identify boundary objects or
brokers computationally. What kind of data would you
need, and what would you do with it?