New Media & Society· 2016Q1
The walkthrough method: An approach to the study of apps
- 1,005citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2016year
Short summary
A new 'walkthrough method' offers a systematic way to critically analyze software apps by examining their expected use, registration, daily use, and discontinuation.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Introduces the 'walkthrough method' for critical app analysis.
- Method involves analyzing an app's environment of expected use (vision, operating model, governance).
- Systematically steps through app registration, everyday use, and discontinuation.
- Establishes a data corpus for analyzing intended purpose, cultural meanings, and ideal users.
- Provides a foundation for user-centered research on appropriation and resistance.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Software applications (apps) are now prevalent in the digital media environment. They are the site of significant sociocultural and economic transformations across many domains, from health and relationships to entertainment and everyday finance. As relatively closed technical systems, apps pose new methodological challenges for sociocultural digital media research. This article describes a method, grounded in a combination of science and technology studies with cultural studies, through which researchers can perform a critical analysis of a given app. The method involves establishing an app’s environment of expected use by identifying and describing its vision, operating model and modes of governance. It then deploys a walkthrough technique to systematically and forensically step through the various stages of app registration and entry, everyday use and discontinuation of use. The walkthrough method establishes a foundational corpus of data upon which can be built a more detailed analysis of an app’s intended purpose, embedded cultural meanings and implied ideal users and uses. The walkthrough also serves as a foundation for further user-centred research that can identify how users resist these arrangements and appropriate app technology for their own purposes.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. New Media & Society, 2016 · DOI ↗
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Field: Human-Computer Interaction
Human-Computer InteractionComputer Science