Co-creating & identity-making in CSCW
Stacy Marie Branham, Anja Thieme, Lisa P. Nathan, Steve Harrison, Deborah G. Tatar, Patrick L. Olivier · 2014
The evolving philosophies, methods, and products of CSCW design research are more collaborative and value-active than ever. Researchers and participants may co-construct designs, thus sharing power; they may share intimate life stories over design probes, thus pushing socio-cultural boundaries; they may seek personal fulfillment through the products or the process. How do these experiences affect researcher and co-creator identity in the moment of co-work? How do these changes reconfigure other relationships and encounters? This workshop invites discussants from across disciplines to consider phenomenological aspects of identity-making and to unpack ethical dilemmas that arise when we appreciate the potential for design research itself to significantly harm or help participants. At stake are CSCW policies, best practices, and collective understandings of what it means to be a design researcher.