Tech Help Desk: Long-term Support for Local Entrepreneurs Addressing Everyday Computing Challenges
Yasmine Kotturi, Herman T Johnson, Michael Skirpan, Sarah E Fox, Jeffrey P Bigham, Amy Pavel
CHI'22: ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Session: Strategies for Design
Abstract
Even entrepreneurs whose businesses are not technological (e.g., handmade goods) need to be able to use a wide range of computing technologies in order to achieve their business goals. In this paper, we follow a participatory action research approach and collaborate with various stakeholders at an entrepreneurial co-working space to design "Tech Help Desk", an on-going technical service for entrepreneurs. Our model for technical assistance is strategic, in that it is designed to fit the context of local entrepreneurs, and responsive, in that it prioritizes emergent needs. From our engagements with 19 entrepreneurs and neighboring support personnel, we reflect on the challenges with existing technology support for non-technological entrepreneurs. Our work highlights the importance of ensuring technological services can adapt based on entrepreneurial constraints and maintain broad technical support for entrepreneurs' ever-evolving computing challenges.
WEB:: https://chi2022.acm.org/
Pre-recorded presentations of CHI 2022