Infrastructuring

A theoretical lens from HCI, CSCW, and participatory design (developed from the work of Susan Leigh Star, Karen Ruhleder, Volkmar Pipek, and Volker Wulf) that treats infrastructure not as a finished artifact but as an ongoing, situated accomplishment. Infrastructuring highlights the continuous work practitioners do to adapt, configure, repair, and re-appropriate globally available tools to meet local use contexts. Key concepts include the Point of Infrastructuring (PoI) - the moment when users become aware of and intervene in the technology they depend on - and tailorability, the design property that allows future infrastructuring to happen.