Making infrastructure visible for nomadic work
In this study we revisit Weisers (1991)[5] vision of seamlessly integrated computing. We focus on nomadic workers who rely extensively on mobile technologies to conduct work. Using Star and Ruhleders (1996)[10] properties of infrastructure, we discuss how nonroutine users of infrastructure face particular challenges. We conducted an ethnographic investigation of nomadic workers in a large distributed organization. We examined strategies that they use to assemble their mobile office, to seek resources, and to synchronize with others across time zones. We discuss how their strategies are challenged by their lack of local knowledge of infrastructure. Our results suggest that until the field of pervasive computing can attain Weisers vision, the very users of ubiquitous computing need infrastructure to be visible. We discuss the implications for a design to support nomadic work.
infrastructure nomadic work ubiquitous computing mobile work ethnography