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Air/time Travel: Rethinking Appropriation in Global HCI and Futures of Electronic Exchange

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Mwesigwa, Daniel, Csíkszentmihályi, Christopher·2024·Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
DOI 10.1145/3613904.3642590
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Abstract

This paper reexamines appropriation in human-computer interaction (HCI), which refers to the unexpected alterations made to artifacts by users. We analyze when earlier informal practices of exchanging airtime for cash became enclosed into proprietary mobile money platforms, and show that this enclosure has a longer history in global telecommunications. Building on interviews with 19 experts in computing, policy, and media, we challenge teleological narratives of the inevitability of mobile money often overlooked in computing and global development. We develop an ‘appropriation matrix’ introducing a dialectic of re- and reverse- appropriation animated by three elements—users, artifacts, and imaginaries—that unexpectedly switch between production and consumption, complicating invention and innovation in formal and informal economies. This matrix may help HCI and development better understand how different values, visions, and practices might have led (or could still lead) to different designs of products like mobile money.

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Mwesigwa, D., & Csíkszentmihályi, C.
Affiliations
Cornell University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Publisher
ACM
Published
2024-05-11
Pages
1-21
DOI
10.1145/3613904.3642590
OpenAlex
W4396832266
Cited by
20
References
8
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 1
FWCI
7.62
Type
conference paper
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.acm.org/publications/policies/copyright_policy#Background (vor)
Locations
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › ICT in Developing Communities
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Information Systems Theories and Implementation
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
Keywords
appropriations, mobile money, airtime, history of telecommunications, informal economy, electronic exchange, international development, design futures, teleological narratives

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