Layers of Silence, Arenas of Voice: The Ecology of Visible and Invisible Work

Authors: Star S.L.¹; Strauss A.²

Source: Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Volume 8, Number 1-2, 1999 , pp. 9-30(22)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

No work is inherently either visible or invisible. We always ``see'' work through a selection of indicators: straining muscles, finished artifacts, a changed state of affairs. The indicators change with context, and that context becomes a negotiation about the relationship between visible and invisible work. With shifts in industrial practice these negotiations require longer chains of inference and representation, and may become solely abstract.

This article provides a framework for analyzing invisible work in CSCW systems. We sample across a variety of kinds of work to enrich the understanding of how invisibility and visibility operate. Processes examined include creating a ``non-person'' in domestic work; disembedding background work; and going backstage. Understanding these processes may inform the design of CSCW systems and the development of related social theory.

Keywords: cooperative work; articulation work; invisible work; social informatics; requirements analysis; feminism

Language: English

Document Type: Regular paper

Affiliations: 1: Graduate School of Library and Information Science 501, East Daniel St., University of Illinois, Champaign IL, 61820 USA, E-mail: s-star1@uiuc.edu 2: Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA

Publication date: 1999-01-01