Discussion: articles by Nickles & Shove

Shelley Nickles, 2002, “‘Preserving Women’: Refrigerator Design as Social Process in the 1930s,” Technology and Culture 43(4):693-727.

using concrete examples from the article: what are some connections between design, technical function and social expectations? how do businesses leverage social needs and values in order to create new markets? what are some relationships between technological innovation and new product design? how have manufacturers, marketers and designers constructed the “average” consumer over the years? how and why are “features” added and removed? what does it mean to “take styling seriously” in terms of material culture and class, ethnicity, and gender expectations?

Elizabeth Shove, 2003, “Users, Technologies and Expectations of Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience,” Innovation 16(2):193-206.

using concrete examples from the article: how are relationships between technologies, users and environmental concerns configured? what roles do comfort, cleanliness and convenience play in micro- and macro-level configurations and appropriations of new technologies? what are some of the possibilities, benefits and drawbacks of direct user involvement in the design process?

apply it!

the scenario: You need to buy a new washer & dryer and it’s important that they embody technological and social values that are important to you.

the research: Looking at the following advertisements, what can you say about the relationships between technical function and social life?

Frigidaire Laundry
LG Laundry
Whirlpool Laundry

the decision: Which washer & dryer would you purchase, and why?

~ by anne on March 12, 2007.