Negotiating Use: Making Sense of Mobile Technology

Alexandra Weilenmann
2001 Personal and Ubiquitous Computing  
This paper is based on a study of the ways in which a group negotiated the use of a new mobile technology. The group was made up of ski instructors who, during a one-week ski trip, were equipped with a mobile awareness device called the Hummingbird. The group was studied using ethnomethodologically inspired qualitative methods, with the focus on the group members' different views of the Hummingbird's intended use. Negotiations of use occurred using two methods: talk and action. The users
more » ... ted issues such as where and when to use the technology, and whether to consider the Hummingbird a work tool or a gadget for social events. Further, the empirical results clearly show how negotiations of new, mobile technology differ from stationary technology.
doi:10.1007/pl00000015 fatcat:fnhpduc35vgqlh3gohb3gefr4a