Wes Sharrock

Workflow from within and without: technology and cooperative work on the print industry shopfloor

This paper reports fieldwork from an organization in the print industry, examining a workflow system introduced to the shopfloor. We detail the indigenous methods by which members order their work, contrast this with the order provided by the system, and describe how members have attempted to accommodate the two. Although it disrupted shopfloor work, the systems use was a contractural requirement on the organization to make its services accountable. This suggests workflow systems can often be seen as technologies for organizational ordering and accountability. We conclude that CSCW requirements should acknowledge such exigencies and the organizational status of workflow technologies.

The user as a scenic feature of the design space

Abstract In contrast to the more usual approach, we focus on the internal configuration of the design process. Using the concepts of type and typification as applied to design reasoning, we present an account of reasoning about ‘the user’ in design. Our analysis shows users are spoken of in many different yet systematically related ways. This structure of usage is shared by designers and taken for granted in their work practices. It forms one of the resources designers use to construct their design worlds.

The production of order and the order of production: possibilities for distributed organisations, work and technology in the print industry

Drawing on a fieldwork study, this paper considers different design options for the development of a system for facilitating distributed organisation and distributed working within a sector of the print industry. The relationship between the design of the system and the design of the organisation is also examined. It is concluded that if organisations are to practically benefit from the continued evolution of communication infrastructures, CSCW should attend to the appropriate development of information and work coordination systems. It is also concluded that CSCW should develop measures of the value of proposed systems for organisations and users.

Supporting the design process within an organisational context

This paper attempts to take what has been essentially abstract thinking about how to support the design process and relocates it within the working and organisational context of design. Through a single case analysis we analyse how organisational exigencies affect design activities and design train of thought. On the basis of this study we consider how tools that have been developed to support the design process do not take account of the collaborative, interactional, and organisational ordering of the design process and make recommendations as to the features that one family of support tools, design rational tools, should poses.

Ethnography, ethnomethodology and the problem of generalisation in design

This paper discusses the relationship between sociological theory and method, ethnomethodology and design. It argues that social science theoretical and methodological interests cannot form a basis for interdisciplinarity. Much of the argument about the relevance of ethnography for design, and more specifically about ethnomethodological enquiry, has been cast firstly as problems of method and secondly in terms of the problem of generalisation. We argue that in both instances the problem is miscast. Drawing on the arguments of Wittgenstein and Winch, we suggest that forms of generalisation are to be found in ethnomethodological enquiry and that they may be useful in design-related enquiry. We further suggest, however, that they are not the forms to be found in explanatory social science.

The rise and fall of the fact/value distinction

The paper addresses the problem of the conceptualisation of morality in sociology. The traditional sociological conception of morality was based upon the acceptance of a fact/value dichotomy, implying that sociology portrays the factual nature of morality, which thereby becomes equivalent to group conformity The opposition of fact and value was brought into question by trends of thought that followed from, respectively, Alfred Schutz and Ludwig Wittgenstein. The line from Schutzs ideas led towards their reformulation by Harold Garfinkel, who to large extent integrated the ‘moral’ with the ‘cognitive’. Wittgensteins influence, through, especially Peter Winch, John W. Cook and Alfred Louch undercut the idea that sociological descriptions were themselves purely factual, rather than integrally evaluative. A third stream is represented by Alasdair MacIntyre and Charles Taylor, who adopt the idea that morality must be understood in its social and historical context, and explicitly reject the separation of fact and value in moral inquiry. The fact/value distinction is the source of chronic problems for the sociology of morality. Specifically, a sociological account of morality, that would define the correct understanding of the nature of morality – ie identify what substantive character and content is appropriate to it – is not possible. The disintegration of the fact/value dichotomy also means that the idea that the social context can itself be described independently of normative considerations is an illusion.

ToM: A critical commentary

The Theory of Mind (ToM) is deeply dependent upon an array of (uncritically adopted but contestable) assumptions from contemporary philosophy of mind. We argue that some of these assumptions carry key and tacit but implausible conceptions of the nature and role of language in the ‘acquisition’ of ToM and seek to show that without these misconceptions ToM itself becomes superfluous.The Theory of Mind (ToM) is deeply dependent upon an array of (uncritically adopted but contestable) assumptions from contemporary philosophy of mind. We argue that some of these assumptions carry key and tacit but implausible conceptions of the nature and role of language in the ‘acquisition’ of ToM and seek to show that without these misconceptions ToM itself becomes superfluous.

Changing the Past

The value of the notion of ‘indeterminacy in the past’ continues to be contested. Ian Hacking’s claim that the notion is perspicuous in the examination of historical instances is questioned through discussion of the possibility of retrospective application of the relatively recent diagnostic category ‘Post-traumatic stress disorder’. Kevin McMillan maintains that there are deeper philosophical merits to the idea–particularly with respect to questions of truth–but neither Hacking’s treatment of historical cases nor McMillan’s directly philosophical elaboration of Hacking’s position sustain this claim.

On the Relevance of Habermas‘ Theory of Communicative Action for CSCW

We examine the argument put forward by Ojelanki Nygwenyama andKalle Lyytinen that Juergen Habermass theory of communicativeaction is relevant for the analysis and design of groupwaresystems. We suggest that CSCW champions of Habermas oftenoverlook the fact that his theory can be criticised in itsown right, and go on to outline its contestable character inan appraisal of his understanding of the ‘ideal speech situation’.We then move to Nygwenyama and Lyytinens implementation ofHabermass schema and argue that their categories of analysisare both arbitrarily constructed and applied. In conclusion,we question the extent to which grand, holistic, synthesisingsociological theories offer a way forward for designers andpoint to the difficulties of practically applying Nygwenyamaand Lyytinens categories of analysis.

Disempowerment and resistance in the print industry? Reactions to surveillance–capable technology

This article offers a critique of recent characterisations of the effects of electronic technologies in the workplace. It presents detailed case study evidence that calls into question a number of common theoretical assumptions about the character of surveillance at work and the responses of employees to it.