“No user is an island” Onlookers, affordances, and the impact of mobile devices on work practices

Abstract

This paper addresses the question of how the use of mobile devices impacts work practices, based on an ethnographic study of the use of iPod Touch devices in operating rooms. Building on the concept of affordances in its recent conceptualization as “multifaceted relational structures”, we analyze the interplay between different affordances of iPods seen from the perspective of the user (who is interacting with the device), and from the perspective of the onlooker (who is interacting with the user, but not directly with the device itself). The analyses reveal that while the use of the device clearly had a function in supporting individual work practices, it negatively influenced the implicit coordination required for the interactive work practices. By including the onlookers’ perspective, we provide a more complete picture of how affordances are shaped and enacted within the social context of multiple relations and how this enactment further impacts work practices