Guided by Delight: Music Apps and the Politics of User Interface Design in the iOS Platform
| Autor: | Victoria Simon |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
Cultural Studies
Hegemony Visual Arts and Performing Arts business.industry 05 social sciences Music technology 050801 communication & media studies Queer theory User interface design World Wide Web Politics 0508 media and communications Software 050903 gender studies Music production Sociology Affect (linguistics) 0509 other social sciences business |
| Zdroj: | Television & New Media. 21:60-74 |
| ISSN: | 1552-8316 1527-4764 |
| Popis: | Seemingly trivial software does important cultural work, both reflecting hegemonic norms and providing opportunities for transforming them. Software applications for music production (music apps) within the iOS app store promise to broaden the potential for musical participation through simple, “fun,” user-friendly interface design. Yet, within the dominant user interface convention, “fun” is synonymous with the experience of instant success and effortless musical mastery. Drawing on semistructured interviews conducted with developers, and an analysis of shared user interface design conventions across three case studies of apps, ThumbJam, iMaschine 2, and Skram, I argue that normative conceptions of human perfectibility are assumed to be what generates an optimal user experience. Exploring theories of “queer fun,” and the importance of “failure” in studies of video gaming, I propose alternative conceptions of “fun,” and consider how, and with what effects, these might be implemented in the world of music apps. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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