CONFIGURATION PRACTICES OF SERVICE TECHNICIANS

Abstract

The increasing need for interactive and configurable technologies in the field of industrial refrigeration seems to push the direction of research towards gaining a better understanding about both the practice of and tools for configuring. In this article, we present three vignettes of configuration practices based on ethnographic studies of service technicians in the field of industrial refrigeration. To further expand our understanding about the complexity of technician’s work and configuration practice, we incorporate both design and participatory approaches to involve users in elaborating about the ways in which their practice is influenced by their colleagues,
work organization and technology. In this way, we have gained new ways of looking and talking about the practice of configuration.