Week 4

Lecture

Readings : - Spitzberg et al. (2020)

• Spitzberg and Schneider (2022)

In this lecture, we will be joined by Danny Spitzberg.

About our guest speaker:

Danny Spitzberg leads user research for a cooperative economy. He currently works with Turning Basin Labs, a staffing and training cooperative, and is based in Oakland, California. Over the last few years he has created an original model for user- and worker-led co-design, a more efficient and lasting approach than mainstream inclusive design. Danny's background and training is in economic sociology and experimental research, and he has done applied research for over a decade.

His work focuses on financial security, shared ownership, workforce development, and predistributive strategies of building wealth and power. Examples of participant-led research and design collaborations include conducting human factors field work in rural India around biomass energy; developing case studies and frameworks for credit unions and other member-led organizations worldwide to build shared leadership; and facilitating co-design for California ridehail drivers to effectively file over 5,000 wage claims through a custom-build spreadsheet tool and web app, which led to a $1.3 billion (!) suit filed by the state. With Tech Workers Coalition, Danny also co-edits a newsletter and curates an oral history project about international labor in and around the digital tech and software industry. Danny believes in stories that brings people together for collective action.

For more information, consider viewing Danny's talk How Not to be an Advocate (UXRConf 2021).

No tutorials this week.

Homework : - Learn about the Crisis Text Line scandal by reading McNeil (2022) and at least one additional source of your own choice.

• Take some notes to prepare for the discussion in next week's tutorials.