Steps towards an ecology of infrastructure: complex problems in design and access for large-scale collaborative systems
Abstract
This paper analyzes the initial phases of a large-scale custom software effort, the Worm Community System (WCS), a collaborative system designed for a geographically dispersed community of geneticists. Despite high user satisfaction with the system and interface, and extensive user feedback and analysis, many users experienced difficulties in signing on and use, ranging from simple lack of resources to complex organizational and intellectual trade-offs. Using Bateson's levels of learning, we characterize these as levels of infrastructural complexity which challenge both users and developers. Usage problems may result from different perceptions of this complexity in different organizational contexts.
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Infrastructures are socio-technical, relational, and difficult to distinguish.
“While infrastructure is imagined in the background of everyday activity, Star and Ruhleder [57] suggest that infrastructures are, in fact, socio-technical, relational, and difficult to distinguish.”
From Infrastructuring as Collective Resistance: How Disabled Students Negotiate Access Through Technology in Universities (2026) · cites this paper as [57]
Infrastructure becomes visible primarily during breakdowns or through the learned expertise of membership.
“Infrastructure becomes visible primarily during breakdowns or through the learned expertise of membership [57].”
From Infrastructuring as Collective Resistance: How Disabled Students Negotiate Access Through Technology in Universities (2026) · cites this paper as [57]
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“Infrastructure becomes visible primarily during breakdowns or through the learned expertise of membership [57].”
Outlining Traceability: A Principle for Operationalizing Accountability in Computing Systems
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- Authors
- Star, S. L., & Ruhleder, K.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute (US)
- ORCID
- Ruhleder, Karen
- Venue
- Proceedings of the 1994 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work - CSCW '94
- Publisher
- ACM Press
- Published
- 1994
- Pages
- 253-264
- OpenAlex
- W2090177212
- Cited by
- 412
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 75 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 15
- FWCI
- 20.57
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Information Systems Theories and Implementation
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Usability and User Interface Design
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Software Engineering Techniques and Practices
- Keywords
- groupware, custom software development, user experience, user onboarding, geneticists, organizational context
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