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Preserving Communication Context 235

CSCW designers generally agree that Japan is unique and that de-
signing for a Japanese context requires particular attention to a cer-
tain number of elements. Although it is not the only consideration in
design, this attention to culture goes far beyond the stage of ideas to
finds expression in the machinic reality of the computer systems, as
illustrated by our two examples. The paper further proposes an ex-
planation, grounded in the notion of cultural frame, for these obser-
vations. This explanation focuses on the interaction between the
specific situation in which design is taking place, its larger social,
cultural and institutional context, and the unique actions of design-
ers. Based on how they understand the world around them, design-
ers make assumptions that guide their design choices. 14 As
participants in their larger professional, organizational and national
cultures, individual designers link their creations with larger social
or cultural values. They actualize their shared understandings of
Japanese culture as they perform it in their daily design activities.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Fonds pour la Formation de Chercheurs
et l’Aide à la Recherche (FCAR), whose financial support enabled
this research. Thanks are also due to all those who took the time to
speak with us, particularly at NTT and Keio University.
This chapter appeared originally in the Electronic Journal of
Communication/La revue electronique de communication, 8(3 & 4),
1998 (see <http://www.cios.org/www/ejcrec2.htm>), and in AI and
Society (1999) 13: 357–376, and is reprinted by kind permission of
the editors and publishers.
The illustrations in Figures 1, 2, and 3 are © by the Association
for Computing Machinery, and are reprinted here by kind permission.

Notes

1. It is not the intention of this paper to demonstrate causality, and
the author is well aware of the dangers involved in the retrospective recon-
struction of intentions and influences from a finished product so character-
istic of early SCOT (social construction of technology) work. It should simply
be read within the larger objective of clarifying the relationship between
what designers do and how they do it, and between what they do and what
they say.