Summary
Sam, drawing from ethnographic research and his enterprise experience at Microsoft, discusses how workplace technology transforms not just processes but the social and psychological experience of workers. He references Shoshana Zuboff's 1980s study of insurance clerks who became isolated and chained to their desks due to digitization, losing important social bonding. Sam highlights the early skepticism Jonathan Grudin expressed about digital calendar adoption, emphasizing the tension between management’s surveillance needs and workers’ desire for autonomy, exemplified through theory X and theory Y management styles. He points out that despite challenges, users sometimes co-opt tools like Microsoft Outlook to create social bonds, illustrating how user adoption depends on perceived productivity and cultural fit. Sam contrasts the enterprise focus on customers (buyers) versus users (employees), urging design that considers users’ real work contexts. He explains technostress arising from poorly integrated tools and disjointed mobile experiences, while exploring how personal data exhaust—small, user-relevant data points—can empower users, unlike big data used for surveillance. Finally, Sam encourages design approaches that inform and empower users (informating technology) rather than automate and control them, citing power plant operators’ software as a successful example.
Key Insights
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Digitization in enterprises can isolate workers by chaining them to their desks, reducing social interaction and collaboration.
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There is a persistent divide between the buyers of enterprise software (customers) and the actual users (workers), leading to poor UX.
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Early skepticism about digital calendar adoption highlighted fundamental workplace trust and motivation issues.
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Workplace management often follows theory X assumptions, treating workers as unwilling and needing control, which worsens user experience.
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Only 13% of workers worldwide are actively engaged at work, while 66% feel overwhelmed, impacting technology adoption and satisfaction.
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Technostress results from disjointed, poorly designed enterprise tools and lack of mobile app availability for employees.
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Users can resist, subvert, or creatively repurpose enterprise tools, as exemplified by Outlook invite subject line hijinks that built social bonds.
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Personal data exhaust—small-scale, user-focused data—can help individuals improve productivity and workplace happiness.
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Current enterprise data exhaust usage mostly serves surveillance and managerial control, rarely benefiting individual users.
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Informating technology that empowers user expertise and judgment (seen in power plant operator tools) leads to better adoption and satisfaction than pure automation.
Notable Quotes
"Building Windows is like ordering pizza for a billion people – everyone is your user, from different geographies, cultures, and roles."
"Insurance clerks were chained to their desks by digitization, losing social contact that was crucial to their jobs."
"Nobody seemed to care that software made these clerks’ work boring, alienating, and isolating."
"Why would you use a digital calendar if your boss can check how busy you are anytime? That distrust impedes adoption."
"People resist things they don’t like at work – they slow down, sabotage, or do things their own way."
"Culture eats strategy for breakfast – what people want daily often contradicts management’s plans."
"Only 13% of workers worldwide are actively engaged; two-thirds feel overwhelmed by work demands."
"Enterprise UX often favors the customer (buyer) over the user, resulting in poor adoption and unhappy workers."
"Personal data, like how often I go for a walk or stand at my desk, can boost productivity if designed for users."
"Informating technology serves enterprise users by empowering their expertise instead of automating their tasks completely."
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