USERSANDINNOVATION
INDIGITALMEDIA
2020-2021
MASTERNEWMEDIA&SOCIETY PROF.HEYMAN
D.L.Y.
,
CHAPTERONE
WHATISINNOVATION?
1.INTRODUCTION
● Usersandinnovationaremutuallyshapingeachother
INTEGRATEUSERSININNOVATION INNOVATIONCHANGEUSERS’BEHAVIOUR
○ Whyisitimportanttohaveusersininnovation(ones ○ e.g.distancelearningmandatoryfeatureofeducation
whoaregoingtousetheinnovation) system → shapes how we are teaching,lessscripted,
○ Tuomi:needthemcausetheydeterminethesuccess more one direction teaching, new ways to get
(50%)ofyourinnovation interactions
○ Important economically, but also your most
importantstakeholder(e .g.feedback,steerinnovation
inausefuldirection)
○ e.g. we often conclude that AIisgoingtochangethe
world,butwedon’tknowyethowitisgoingtochange
theworld,cannotpredictyetsoitisinterestingtotake
userswithyou
2.TUOMI
2.1.NETWORKSOFINNOVATION-TUOMI2002
● Spectrumfromlinearinnovationtoinnovationassocialchange
LINEARINNOVATION INNOVATIONASSOCIALCHANGE
○ Innovation is often depicted as a linear process: ○ Means that true innovation happens when social
invent,develop,package,market,consume practices change (when itsticks,embeddedindaily
○ e.g.inpatents,innovationpresupposesaclear,single habitsandpractices)
inventorandmomentofbirth ○ Italsomeansthatchangeisnolongercausedbythe
○ Used to simplify things (who has the rights to sell) innovator
(e.g.radioinventedbymultiplepeopleatroughlythe ○ The practice can also be seen as meaning and
sametime) without a meaning, any artefact remains a pile of
○ e.g. in AI only creating ethics for developers and unidentifiedmatter
companies or those that implement AI which
presupposes the same linear innovation idea(ethics
from design, if ethics fromthestart,nothingcango
wrong: inventor not doing market research,looking
atuserneeds)
1
,
2.2.DEBUNKINGLINEARINNOVATION-ANEFFECTOFWRITINGHISTORY
E.g.thepatentsystemwasdesignedontheassumptionthatthefunctionalityofeachinventioncouldbedescribedindetail,sothatits
noveltycouldbeunambiguouslydecided.Itwasalsoassumedthatinventionhadawell-definedauthor,theinventor,andawell-defined
momentofbirth.
E.g. the telephone was never intended to be used for social conversation,butbroadcastingactivitiesandworkrelatedinteractions.
Innovatorsneverreallyconsideredoraccountedforthis‘divergent’behaviour.
● Wrongbecauseeasywaytowriteabouttechnologicalhistory
○ e.g.carsonfossilfuelsmustbebestoptionbcweonlyknowthose,electriccars→maybefossilfuelsnotthebestway,
tookalongtime
○ Whenpeoplearewritinghistory,lazy,‘sincethisisthethingwehavenow,itmusthavealwaysbeenthisgreatinthe
past’→wrongcausation,notconsideringalternatives
● Sometechnologiesbecamedominant,notbecausetheyarethegreatest,butbecausethepeoplewhowantedustouse
themweremorepowerful(politicalgame,notaboutperformance)
● Lotsoftechnologieswereunder-definedwhentheyenteredthemarket
○ Tookoffbecauseuserswhostartedusingitinunexpectedways
○ e.g. telephone, people found it preposterous to talk to someone without being in the same room; minitel with
pornographicimage,peopleusedittosendporntooneanother,showsnonlinearwayofinnovation
● New technologies, huge amount of agency tied to new technology, while with old technology (tools, means) putall
responsibilitywiththeuser
○ e.g.withself-drivingcars(AI),ethicaldebatesaboutwhothecarshouldrunoverfirst,butthearrivalofthecaritself
notcriticised(agencywithuser)
● MainmodeltodaylookingatAIfunds(US,CN,BE,…,samemodel):moneyinresearch(e .g.R&Dcompanies) andextract
benefitinuse
○ Unguided:researchersdon’tevenknowhowtechnologywillbeused,onlyinventingsub-componentoftechnology,
simplyhopeitimprovesthestateoftheart,contributetoAIevolution
2.3.PRODUCTIONASANENDINITSELF-ANECONOMICEND
● Globalperspective
○ Entire economic system is geared towards innovation (e .g. new benefits, increase efficiency, increase value,
improving→banksdaretolendmoneytoinvest,createmorevaluablethingswithit)
2
,
○ Progresstiedtoinnovation(fromenlightenmenttocapitalismon)
○ Innovationhasbecomeitsownmotor(forsakeofinnovationandeconomicprofit)
○ e.g. Silicon Valley (HBO series) where you follow a startup fighting against bigger startups or even Google and
Facebook-likecompaniesinbeingasinnovativeaspossible→lookingattheseseries,itisaboutbeingthefirst,attract
investors,money,changetheworld
● Economicend
○ ‘Perhaps the most fundamental assumption that is built into the structureofeconomicexplanationsisthatthe
meaningofproductsandproductioncanbeunderstoodwithoutreferencetothesocialandmaterialreality’
○ Creatingsomethingthatsoundscool,gearedatsellingasfastaspossible
○ Onlythinginterestedinismoney
2.4.INNOVATIONASSOCIALCHANGE-FASHIONASSOCIALINNOVATION
Culturalcategoriescanbeembeddedinartefactsthroughthesystemsofadvertisingandfashion.Advertisingbringsaconsumer
good and a representation oftheculturallyconstitutedworldtogether,sothattheknownpropertiesoftheworldcanbecome
residentintheunknownpropertiesoftheconsumergood.(McCracken,1988:77)
● Innovatorsmakesomething,butithastobeusedbyusers(practiceprovidesmeaningtoinnovations)
○ Tuomi:lotofinnovationsarenotbeingused,theyareunidentifiedmatter(wenolongerknowwhattheymeanor
whattheyareusedfor)
● Isfashioninnovation?
○ No,usingroughlythesamefabricetc.
○ Yet,alwaysnewfashiontrends→innovative
● Allowsustoembedculturalcategoriesormeaningsintoartefacts
○ Clothing you wear when you see people not because they are comfortable, but because they makeyoulooka
certainperson
○ Clothingyouwearathomeareoftenmorecomfortable
○ Buyclothingbecausetheysaysomethingaboutyou,useclothingtoconveyamessage→socialcategory,towhat
groupyoubelong
○ e.g. professor starts wearing ‘age inappropriate’ clothing → cultural categories, code embedded in clothes (not
software,butmeaning)
2.5.INTERMEDIARYCONCLUSION-INNOVATIONISALWAYSSOCIAL
⇨ Innovationneedsasocialmeaninginordertobeused
○ e.g. people using a Mac → seems to conveysomethingaboutyou;PlaystationorXbox→seemstomeansomething
aboutyouasagamer,similargamingplatforms;BMWorotherbrands;brandfans→differenceinsocialmeaning,use
socialmeaningattachedtoartefactstocreateidentity,meaning
⇨ Goodinnovation(thatsticks)isalwayssocial,youalwaysneedaguaranteeduptake
○ e.g.contacttracingappsuptakeindifferentcountries,dependonwhatmeaningwegavethem
3