TY - JOUR
T1 - Making technology public
T2 - Challenging the notion of script through an e-health demonstration video
AU - Winthereik, Brit Ross
AU - Johannsen, Nis
AU - Strand, Dixi Louise
N1 - Paper id:: 10.1108/09593840810881042
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - PurposeThrough an analysis of a demonstration video presenting a new national e‐health portal, this paper aims to explore the assumptions and limitations of the concept of “script” and suggests a different approach to analysing the moral order of technology design.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews the work of authors who have written about scripts and scripting, and thereafter analyses a demonstration video with a particular user script. Based on the analysis of the video coupled with material from interviews, observation and analysis of other representations, the paper examines the transformative potential of the portal presentation for reconfiguring relationships between citizens, health care systems, and information and communication technology (ICT). The analysis is guided by Haraway's notion of diffraction.FindingsThe analysis demonstrates the particular way in which the user is scripted in an e‐health demo, as a manager of his own health and, consequently, as a good citizen. This is a kind of script that does not directly groom its user, as implied in the notion of script, but rather figures up a probable future user in order to create and manage strategic partnerships that may secure the future of the technology and organisation behind it.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper extends the script metaphor beyond a limited designer‐technology‐user configuration and argues that scripts in the paraphernalia of technologies also can and should be “de‐scribed” in understanding the making of the technology and the distributed networks of actors involved.Originality/valueThe paper is a contribution to the discussion on inscriptions in technology and the politics of technology design. Its originality lies in the combined use of notions of script and making things public. Empirically it contributes to the discussion of transformed patient identities following in the wake of implementation and use of ICT in the health care sector.
AB - PurposeThrough an analysis of a demonstration video presenting a new national e‐health portal, this paper aims to explore the assumptions and limitations of the concept of “script” and suggests a different approach to analysing the moral order of technology design.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews the work of authors who have written about scripts and scripting, and thereafter analyses a demonstration video with a particular user script. Based on the analysis of the video coupled with material from interviews, observation and analysis of other representations, the paper examines the transformative potential of the portal presentation for reconfiguring relationships between citizens, health care systems, and information and communication technology (ICT). The analysis is guided by Haraway's notion of diffraction.FindingsThe analysis demonstrates the particular way in which the user is scripted in an e‐health demo, as a manager of his own health and, consequently, as a good citizen. This is a kind of script that does not directly groom its user, as implied in the notion of script, but rather figures up a probable future user in order to create and manage strategic partnerships that may secure the future of the technology and organisation behind it.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper extends the script metaphor beyond a limited designer‐technology‐user configuration and argues that scripts in the paraphernalia of technologies also can and should be “de‐scribed” in understanding the making of the technology and the distributed networks of actors involved.Originality/valueThe paper is a contribution to the discussion on inscriptions in technology and the politics of technology design. Its originality lies in the combined use of notions of script and making things public. Empirically it contributes to the discussion of transformed patient identities following in the wake of implementation and use of ICT in the health care sector.
KW - Online operations
KW - Health services
KW - Communication technologies
KW - Portals
KW - Online operations
KW - Health services
KW - Communication technologies
KW - Portals
U2 - 10.1108/09593840810881042
DO - 10.1108/09593840810881042
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0959-3845
VL - 21
SP - 116
EP - 132
JO - Information Technology and People
JF - Information Technology and People
IS - 2
ER -