Digital environments allow the user to configure and re-purpose (to varying extents) technology to meet their own needs and preferences. This trend is happening across user groups with various levels of expertise in technology. There is an increase in the amount of configuration and influence over an environment possible for users who do not necessarily know a considerable amount about technology. In the near future, it is possible that ‘average’ users will be able to configure their digital environments in fashions not imaginable now.
Some research questions this claim. For instance, Chetty et al (2009) argue that home network technology design is modelled on business use, and requires certain behaviours on behalf of home users that may not be appropriate for home interactions. A radical re-consideration of technology design is required for systems to be more useful. However, I believe that users indeed understand and have an active interest in some digital technology that means that users are willing to research and coopt technology for their own purposes. In a recent report I prepared for British Telecom (Dwyer 2011), I interviewed families about how they use technology in the home. Project participants, who could be described as ‘average users’ demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of what different modes of technology can offer. They also demonstrated an interest in pursuing knowledge and research about how some forms of technology works.
Some technology and digital environments have been designed so that end users with little expertise in technology can change the nature of their environment. In some cases, the changes just affect the user’s environment, for instance, a user can configure the graphic design style of how google appears when s/he uses it. In other cases, a user has the opportunity to change what others experience, see, read or think. For instance, ‘tagging’ is an on-line activity that users can undertake to label pieces of media such as photos on the internet. Other users can then access these photos by using search terms that link to the labelled material. The action of tagging shapes how material is accessed in digital environments (Körner et al. 2010). Wikipedia, a common and widely-used online encyclopaedia, created by users who can update the site with little specialist knowledge, is an example of how profoundly users can currently influence how knowledge is shaped. The configuration movement affects more than software. The realm of computing hardware was once the province of highly-specialised experts. Now that hardware creation is becoming more accessible, developers are making products that allow others to create their own systems (Kobayashi 2009).
Much has been made of the ‘user-empowering’ quality of technology, for instance Bruns (2009) argues that the user is now the ‘produser’, rather than just the consumer of content. However, the issue of user-configuration of environments is problematic. For instance, how much control does a user have, in
actuality, to make a significant change in an environment? How much investment by the user (i.e. commitment to gain knowledge in a particular area of technology) is required to participate in configuration? Configuration can be a confusing and time consuming process (Spillers 2005), which has led researchers (for instance, Heslop 2007) to recommend techniques that ease the load on users when configuring. Some technology tries to pre-empt what a user’s preferences might be and personalise the delivery of a service to an individual. For instance, Google keeps a record of what searches a particular user has made in the past. This information is used to filter that user’s searches in the future, and to present the user with options made on assumptions drawn from their past interests. Privacy advocates have a problem with this as Google users are automatically subscribed to this service (Fernback & Papacharissi 2007).
The open source and free software communities, groups who work collaboratively to create free and accessible source codes, are a model of how users with technical knowledge can together shape digital environments (Schweik 2006). The distinction between user and developer becomes blurred (Berglund & Priestley 2001). Linux and Mediawiki (the underlying software for Wikipedia), are well-known examples of systems made by and for users. Although the open source movement started mostly outside of corporate project development, the processes and philosophies of the open source community are now adopted by mainstream project developers (Fitzgerald 2006). Due to the success of these communities to build robust digital environments, researchers such as Shibuya and Tamai (2009) and Scacchi (2007) seek to understand how these types of communities initially motivate and then maintain relationships with their users. Although participation in these communities takes a considerable amount of time and expertise development, these communities are large and keep attracting new members.
‘Cloud computing’ is a new development that may revolutionise how computing technology can be configured by users (Vile 2010). It is a usage model by which users’ environments are virtualised. Rather than running applications off a local computer, data and services are maintained by a third party provider, perhaps on a subscription model. Service providers supply services to a range of
tenants and communities. This practice, now in its infancy, may mean that users can choose and configure services to their needs. Until now, cloud computing has been focused on business needs. As a prediction for 2010, Yee (2010) argues that cloud computing will now explore how wider personal and social needs can be delivered via this model. However, it is possible that this movement may instead result in service providers locking in their subscribers to arrangements and limiting choices once users have handed over the control of their data. Stallman (2010) believes cloud computing is a trap. Only time will tell what this movement means for user configuration.