Bringing Gender into Technology:A Case Study in User-Interface-Design and the Perspective of Gender Experts

Authors

  • Brigitte Ratzer Vienna University of Technology
  • Astrid Weisse University of Salzburg
  • Barbara Weixelbaumer University of Salzburg
  • Nicole Mirnig University of Salzburg
  • Manfred Tscheligi University of Salzburg
  • David Raneburger Vienna University of Technology
  • Roman Popp Vienna University of Technology
  • Jürgen Falb Vienna University of Technology

Keywords:

gendered innovations, gender experts, knowledge transfer,

Abstract

Including gender knowledge in SET (Science, Engineering and Technology) research is increasingly seen as a means to create new knowledge and technology. This paper describes interactions, problems and strategies developed in research projects where an external gender expert introduces gender knowledge to a SET research team. The central task of gender experts here is informing researchers who have no or little previous gender knowledge. Based on the experiences of six gender experts who have been working in various SET projects, the realities, possibilities and limitations of gender knowledge transfer are explored. Four distinct topics were stressed by all experts, namely the process of mutual learning, problems with the credibility of gender knowledge, the importance of changes in as well the organisational context as the working cultures and the smallness of the adaptations that actually were achieved within the projects. I will conclude with reflections of what needs to be secured to make Gender into Technology an emancipatory project. My reflections are based on the theoretical debates in the fields of Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Feminist Technology Studies.

Author Biographies

  • Brigitte Ratzer, Vienna University of Technology
    Head of Center for Promotion of Women and Gender Studies
  • Barbara Weixelbaumer, University of Salzburg
    Barbara Weixelbaumer&is working as a research fellow at the HCI & Usability Unit. She holds a master degree (2013) in Anthropology from the University of Vienna with a special focus on Human Ethology and Evolutionary Psychology. In August 2011 she joined the ICT&S Center and was mainly engaged in a research project investigating gender-related differences in website interaction (GENUINE). Currently she is focusing on collaborative aspects in different contexts, e.g. investigating how older adults’ active participation and exchange of mutual support can be fostered by the design of an online platform (GeTVivid), analysing how assisting technologies can improve cooperation and work-flows in the factory (ASSIST 4.0).
  • Manfred Tscheligi, University of Salzburg
    Academic Director, Professor for Human Computer Interaction & Usability
  • David Raneburger, Vienna University of Technology
    David Raneburger has been working as a Project Assistant for the Institute of Computertechnology from 2008 to 2011. Since 2011 he is employed as a University Assistant and involved in teaching in addition to research in projects. He graduated as Dipl.-Ing. with his master-thesis on "Automated Graphical User Interface Generation based on an Abstract User Interface Specification" at Vienna University of Technology in 2009. Currently he is carrying out research for his doctoral thesis, on how to improve semi-automatically generated GUIs.
  • Roman Popp, Vienna University of Technology
    Roman Popp was born 1976 in Vienna, Austria. He studied electrical engineering and specialized later on in computer science. He received his MS-Degree at the University of Technology Vienna in March 2003 with distinction. He finished his doctoral disseration in December 2012 and is currently working in the field of&"Communication Protocols for SOA"&and&"User Interfaces".
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Published

08-03-2014

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2014)

Section

Research and theoretical papers

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How to Cite

Bringing Gender into Technology:A Case Study in User-Interface-Design and the Perspective of Gender Experts. (2014). International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 6(1), 3-24. https://genderandset.open.ac.uk/index.php/genderandset/article/view/282