Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
here: it refers to the perceptible attributes and properties of artifacts that
make a specific type of action possible.
However, this latter use of the walking stick can be seen in two differ-
ent ways, depending on what value one ascribes to it. One can believe that
it 'wasn't designed to be used like that'; it is a form of use that is of lesser
value, since it was not planned or anticipated by the designers, leading to
what has been called a catachresis (Faverge, 1977). Alternately, from a con-
structive perspective, one can see that such uses are an obvious marker of
creativity on the part of the user.
This idea is not a new one, and there are many works that aim, follow-
ing the approach of Activity Theory, to show that the means to mediate
activity are not provided to workers at once (Bannon and Bodker, 1991;
Kaptelinin and Kuutti, 1999; Kaptelinin and Nardi, 2006; Wertsch, 1998).
This reconceptualization of unexpected uses of artifacts thus provides
a fundamentally different approach: the genesis of an instrument takes
place through the worker himself. This view is particularly meaning-
ful for the constructive point of view of the instrumental approach, and
applies just as well to artifacts that rely on sophisticated technology, as the
example at the end of this chapter will show.
Two processes seem to be involved in this
instrumental genesis
, which
are characterized by their orientation. These are the processes of
instru-
mentalization
and
instrumentation
, which both contribute to the develop-
ment of the artifact as well as that of the worker.
The process of instrumentalization
Instrumentalization affects the artifact. It is a process that can be con-
sidered an enrichment of the properties of the artifact by the worker.
This process includes all that bears upon the selection, the grouping, the
attribution of properties and functions, or even the transformation of the
artifact. Here, we can find, for example, the possibility afforded by some
software programs to personalize the interface. But this process goes far
beyond that, since it includes and goes beyond the freedom of use that had
been left by the designers for the workers.
In some cases, instrumentalization does not involve any physical
transformation of the artifact. The example given by Faverge (1977) is
quite well known: the wrench from a toolbox may be used without any
alteration whatsoever to strike objects as with a hammer. This attribution
of functions may be either temporary and related to a specific action or
longer lasting. However, the artifact is very often altered. The use that is
made of it leads to adapting the properties of the artifact to the situation
encountered. Alternately, the artifact might have been designed by work-
ers themselves and undergone, either initially or subsequently, this pro-
cess of instrumentalization - as in the case of making a walking stick out
of a broken branch that one has found lying on the ground.
