Understanding and Designing for Coproduction: Socio-technical Approaches to Prolonged Crisis Response
Open Access
- Author:
- Jo, Jeongwon
- Graduate Program:
- Informatics
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- August 28, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Carleen Maitland, Program Head/Chair
Xinning Gui, Major Field Member
Jack Carroll, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Kenneth Huang, Major Field Member
S. Shyam Sundar, Outside Unit & Field Member - Keywords:
- coproduction
support exchange
crisis relief
crisis - Abstract:
- This dissertation expands the scope of crisis informatics research by exploring the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in facilitating coproduction for addressing long-term crises, moving beyond the traditional focus on acute disasters. By applying the coproduction concept to both citizen-driven and government-driven contexts, this research investigates how socio-technologies can be designed to build resilience in prolonged crises. Coproduction, emphasizing collaborative processes where diverse actors work together to produce services, offers benefits in the context of extended crises. It helps the mobilization of previously under-leveraged social capital, promoting equitable partnerships, and fostering sustainable solutions responsive to evolving needs over time. The dissertation comprises four interconnected studies that examine various aspects of coproduction in different prolonged crisis contexts. The first study examines civic disaster relief efforts during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying key coproduction attributes in citizen-based initiatives. This analysis yielded design implications to support the initiation, development, and sustainability of civic disaster relief efforts. The second study investigated more mature coproductive civic relief efforts addressing prolonged crises of food insecurity and food waste. Through the lenses of commoning and infrastructuring, the guiding principles to facilitate coproduction, this study provides empirical evidence of sustained coproduction practices and presents how the concepts of commoning and infrastructuring complement each another to build prolonged community food resilience. The third study employs the Value-Sensitive Design approach to evaluate mobile applications for public food benefits. By aiming to align digital government services with beneficiaries' values, this study underscores the importance of incorporating coproduction principles into governmental responses to prolonged crises, thereby mitigating value conflicts between government entities and beneficiaries. The fourth study, with mixed-method analysis, delves into the psychological dynamics of support exchange participation for everyday disruptions. By examining factors that influence willingness to seek and offer help and psychological barriers to participation, this study proposes design strategies that can enhance participation in coproductive support exchange, increasing everyday resilience. This dissertation contributes to both empirical practices and theoretical understanding of coproduction by: (1) interpreting citizens' support exchange practices during long-term crises through a coproduction lens, (2) providing design recommendations for socio-technical systems that embrace coproduction values, (3) proposing and testing a theoretical model of psychological factors in coproduction participation, and (4) offering implications for research practices and designs that align with coproduction principles.