Minna Räsänen

Exploring Sustainable Practices in Workplace Settings through Visualizing Electricity Consumption

People’s domestic habits are increasingly being targeted to reduce levels of CO2 emissions. Whereas domestic energy consumption has received a lot of attention with several reported studies on sustainable practices, there are very few studies on workplace practices. Nevertheless, these are considered as having much potential for reducing energy consumption. This article presents the findings from two field studies where two different types of prototypes for visualizing energy use were designed, implemented and evaluated in different types of workplace settings -- factories and offices. The studies used design probes to explore how visual feedback for electricity use was interpreted and acted upon by employees in work settings. A striking observation was that it is very difficult to get people to change to more pro-environmental behavior and practices in a workplace environment. The article discusses why this might be the case.

The Raw is Cooked : Data in Intelligence Practice

This article looks at some common assumptions and associated work practices within a military intelligence community. There intelligence practitioners use the term “raw data” as a common sense category, as a word that describes information they want or have gained access to. The practical and organizational processes that inform the construction of the term raw data are unpacked here. Examples presented are based on interviews, field observations, and document reviews. Theoretical descriptions and models of work, for example, the intelligence cycle, construction, and the use of computer databases, assume that work in this community starts with raw data. However, this data has already been (prior) processed by the work practices, political, practical, and other decisions even before data collection occurs. The technology and attendant categories and practices instrumentalize a certain world view. The model used frames not just the collection and organization of the institution’s knowledge but those categories that inform how this institution organizes, legitimizes, and enacts its work, data, and knowledge. Given the kinds of opponents nations have to face today, intelligence practitioners and those who study their work have to understand practice, action, and contexts often quite different from ones own.

Creating a space for increased community feeling among geographically distributed teachers

We present the initial stages of a project in which we focus on participatory design methods to build information and communication technology support that stimulate knowledge sharing in a group of geographically distributed teachers. Teachers in general spend most of their time in a classroom leaving few opportunities for social encounters and chats with their colleagues. The prototype we are developing focuses on informality and playfulness, that would increase the social communication and thereby the community feeling. In turn, this would ultimately increase learning among the setting members.

The Androchair : Performing Gynaecology through the Practice of Gender Critical Design

Abstract This paper highlights the important role that design plays when it comes to women’s overall experiences of ther gynaecological examination. It exemplifies how the examination can become renegotiable through the practice of a critical design. We will reflect this in the design of the contemporary gynaecological examination chair (GEC). We used women’s experiences as a starting point for the design of an Androchair (a conceptual male equivalent of the GEC), in order to make the experiences critically visible. Inspired by the view of the gynaecological examination as a performance where the Androchair is represented as a prop and was placed on a stage as a discussion object during a public seminar. The Androchair allowed for both critical and multiple readings of the GEC and through that, the gynaecology examination at large. Moreover, it stimulated a discussion about alternative ideas towards achieving a more positive experience.

A Day at the School of Opera – Less Travel through Distance Education?

Teaching opera places high demands on audio-visual and physical aspects of the teaching situation and represents a small but internationally widespread and travel-dependent labour and education mar ...