User Localization Strategies in the Face of Technological Breakdown

This book examines Ghana's use of the fingerprint biometric technology in order to further conversations about localization championed by technical communication scholars. Localization, in this case, refers to the extent to which users demonstrate their knowledge of use by subverting and reconfiguring the purpose of technology to solve local problems. Dorpenyo argues that the success of a technology depends on how it meets the users' needs and the creative efforts users put into use situations. In User Localization Strategies in the Face of Technological Breakdown, *Dorpenyo advocates studying how users of technological systems construct knowledge about the technology and develop local strategies to solve technological breakdowns. By analyzing technical documents and interview transcripts, the author identifies and advances three user localization strategies: linguistic localization, subversive localization, and user-heuristic experience localization*, and considers how biometric systems can become a tool of marginalization.

Considers the effectiveness of repurposing biometric technology as a tool for elections Outlines the ways biometric technology can contribute to the marginalization of certain users Describes approaches for developing and adapting technology to meet the needs of cross-cultural audiences

Autorentext

Isidore Kafui Dorpenyo is Assistant Professor of Professional Writing and Rhetoric at George Mason University, USA. His research focuses on election technology, international technical communication, social justice, and localization. He co-edited a special issue of Technical Communication focused on technical communication and election technologies. Dorpenyo has also published in Technical Communication Quarterly, the Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, and Community Literacy journal.

Klappentext

This book examines Ghanäs use of the fingerprint biometric technology in order to further conversations about localization championed by technical communication scholars. Localization, in this case, refers to the extent to which users demonstrate their knowledge of use by subverting and reconfiguring the purpose of technology to solve local problems. Dorpenyo argues that the success of a technology depends on how it meets the users needs and the creative efforts users put into use situations. In User Localization Strategies in the Face of Technological Breakdown, Dorpenyo advocates studying how users of technological systems construct knowledge about the technology and develop local strategies to solve technological breakdowns. By analyzing technical documents and interview transcripts, the author identifies and advances three user localization strategies: linguistic localization, subversive localization, and user-heuristic experience localization, and considers how biometric systems can become a tool of marginalization.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Recovering the Lost Voices of Users in Localization.- Chapter 2: Biometric Technology: the Savior of a Risky Electoral System.- Chapter 3: Decolonial Methodology as a Framework for Localization and Social Justice Study in Resource-Mismanaged Context.- Chapter 4: Stories of Users' Experiences.- Chapter 5: Linguistic Localization: Constructing Local/Global Knowledge of Biometric Technology.- Chapter 6: User-heuristic experience localization.- Chapter 7: Subversive localization.- Chapter 8: You are not who you say you are: Discriminations inherent in biometric design.- Chapter 9: Conclusion: participatory user localization.