Why Users Hack: Conflicting Interests and the Political Economy of Software
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Why Users Hack : Conflicting Interests and the Political Economy of Software. / Brown, Barry; Vigren, Minna; Rostami, Asreen; Glöss, Mareike.
In: Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 6, No. 2 CSCW, 354, 2022.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Why Users Hack
T2 - Conflicting Interests and the Political Economy of Software
AU - Brown, Barry
AU - Vigren, Minna
AU - Rostami, Asreen
AU - Glöss, Mareike
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 ACM.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - It is often assumed that the interests of users and developers coincide, sharing a common goal of good design. Yet users often desire functionality that goes beyond what designers, and the organisations they work in, are willing to supply. Analysing online forums, complemented with interviews, we document how users, hackers and software developers worked together to discover and apply system exploits in hardware and software. We cover four cases: users of CPAP breathing assistance machines getting access to their own sleep data, 'hacking' the Nintendo switch game console to run non-authorised software, end-users building their own insulin supply system, and farmers repairing their own agriculture equipment against suppliers terms and conditions. We propose the concept of the 'gulf of interests' to understand how differing interests can create conflicts between end-users, designers, and the organisations they work in. This points us in the direction of researching further the political and economic situations of technology development and use.
AB - It is often assumed that the interests of users and developers coincide, sharing a common goal of good design. Yet users often desire functionality that goes beyond what designers, and the organisations they work in, are willing to supply. Analysing online forums, complemented with interviews, we document how users, hackers and software developers worked together to discover and apply system exploits in hardware and software. We cover four cases: users of CPAP breathing assistance machines getting access to their own sleep data, 'hacking' the Nintendo switch game console to run non-authorised software, end-users building their own insulin supply system, and farmers repairing their own agriculture equipment against suppliers terms and conditions. We propose the concept of the 'gulf of interests' to understand how differing interests can create conflicts between end-users, designers, and the organisations they work in. This points us in the direction of researching further the political and economic situations of technology development and use.
KW - conflict
KW - end-user development
KW - hacking
KW - politics of design
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140923680&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1145/3555774
DO - 10.1145/3555774
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85140923680
VL - 6
JO - Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
JF - Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
SN - 2573-0142
IS - 2 CSCW
M1 - 354
ER -
ID: 339347083