Shopping for sharpies in Seattle
Lilly C. Irani, Paul Dourish, Melissa Mazmanian · 2010
In this paper, we describe the importance of mundane tools for design practitioners in India working with Euro-American clients. Our findings are based on a 7-week ethnographic study of a design firm based in Delhi, India. We analyze some highly-valued tools and software, such as post-its, as infrastructures with both practical and symbolic functions. These infrastructures are made meaningful in the shared practices of a transnational but primarily Euro-American design community. Designers in India employ a number of strategies we call "infrastructure work" to be able to participate as designers in this mold.