The Stakeholders Enjoying the Value of Zoom

Answer each of the following ten questions in a Word document. Be sure to include your name in the document, and number each of your answers. Be careful to observe the sentence limits on each question. You can take as much time as you like to complete the exam.

You're welcome to use any and all class readings, discussions, videos, etc., but please remember to cite them as best as you can (whether by name or "as mentioned in our class discussion on healthcare"). You do not need a formal citation style like MLA or APA, but please include the author or speaker. Use only your own notes and the materials from class, and do not collaborate with anyone. Nothing can be pasted from somewhere else without quotation marks and disclosure of where it comes from.

1. Choose an ICT software or platform, and give an example of a small design choice that reifies a value. Explain which stakeholders hold this value, and how the design shapes how users interact with the tech and each other. (3-5 sentences)

2. Pinch and Bijker say that the history of tech hardly ever includes the failures, and so it presents a one-dimensional vision of how a technology developed. SCoT, meanwhile, is a multidirectional model that allows us to see the failures and successes together. Explain how using SCoT as an analytical lens can give you a more complete understanding of a technology, its users, and what each social group is concerned with. How is this different from technological determinism? (3-5 sentences)

3. In your own words, define a wicked problem in only one sentence.

4. How is proxy data used in models? Give an example of a proxy, and explain what it is being used to measure and how this choice affects the outcomes of the model. (3-5 sentences)

5. Choose an incident where a sociotechnical system went wrong. Explain the problem, how each stakeholder was affected, and how this incident is significant in the context of social informatics. (3-5 sentences)

6. We’ve seen many models that have negative effects on people because they don’t incorporate feedback. How does this lead to biased outcomes? (3-5 sentences)

7. Explain how a participatory design framework allows designers to meet users’ needs. How does incorporating stress cases help designers protect their users from harm while making sure their product makes sense? (3-5 sentences)

8. Define technology in one sentence. How has your definition changed over the course of the semester, or not? (4-6 sentences total)

9. Explain how social media is an example of Goffman’s ideas about the self. How is social media used to perform different roles, and how is this different across platforms or contexts? Give an example of a platform or a category of user, and some of the definitional disruptions that might occur. How do these disruptions affect the experience of using the platform, or what it can be used for? (3-5 sentences)

10. Noble talks about how Google and Yelp’s business models influence how they choose to display information. How does a company’s desire to make a profit shape the information users have access to? What are the consequences of having our information environment controlled by businesses? What might be different if our most common ICTs were nonprofits or public utilities? (4-6 sentences)