Understanding Appropriation Through End-User Tailoring in Communication Systems: A Case Study on Slack and WhatsApp

People appropriate technologies in order to make them more suitable to their needs. Technology appropriation is related to assigning new meanings and can be achieved in a variety of ways. Among many possibilities there are functionalities within computational systems, such as end-user tailoring. This research seeks to investigate how people appropriate communication systems through end-user tailoring. Two communication systems were object of study, one directed to the personal context, WhatsApp, and another to the professional context, Slack. We conducted interviews and applied questionnaires to 12 users. Evidence was found that contextual factors motivate and condition appropriation through end-user tailoring in communication systems. We identified four cases that people used end-user tailoring to appropriate the systems. In addition, this research provides an understanding of the context, motivations and circumstances in which people appropriate.

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