Role and identity : experience of technology in professional settings

Sammanfattning: In order to make technology easier to handle for its users, the field of Human-ComputerInteraction is increasingly dependent on an understanding of the individual user and thecontext of use. By investigating the relation between the user and the technology, this thesisexplores how roles and professional identity affect and interact with the design, use and viewsof the technology used.By studies in two different domains, involving clinical medicine and media productionrespectively, professional identities were related to attitudes towards technology and ways ofusing computer-based tools. In the clinical setting, neurosurgeons and physicists using theLeksell GammaKnife for neurosurgical dose planning were studied. In the media setting, theintroduction of new media technology to journalists was in focus. The data collection includesinterviews, observations and participatory design oriented workshops. The data collected wereanalyzed with qualitative methods inspired by grounded theory.In the study of the Leksell GammaKnife two different approaches towards the work, the tooland development activities were identified depending on the professional identity. Dependingon if the user was a neurosurgeon or a physicist, the user's identity or professional backgroundhas a significant impact both on how he or she views his or her role in the clinical setting, andon how he or she defines what improvements are necessary and general safety issues. In thecase of the media production tool, the study involved a participatory design developmentprocess. Here it was shown that both the identities and the roles possessed by individualparticipants affect how they want to use new technology for different tasks.