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Paper short abstract:

Imaginaries of smart homes portray a picture in which technology makes life easier in many ways. However, in everyday practice the real use often differs from that image, but good technology can only be designed with a focus on people with a realistic understanding of its use.

Paper long abstract:

In my paper I want to focus on the contrast of the imagined life in the smart home and the everyday practice of lived experience with it. With the introduction of smart home devices to the own home comes the promise to make the life of its occupants better. The devices should either make everyday life easier, for example by making it more convenient, improve security of the inhabitants and/or reduce energy consumption. The promise of simplification of life fueled by the manufactures of smart home gadgets stands in contrast to the reality of smart home usage. The devices do not only generate a benefit for the users, but also generate new work, for example in form of maintenance of the network (Strengers et al., 2019).

There is a good consideration of these imagined promises in the social sciences, what expectations are being raised. However, in contrast, there is less concrete consideration of what the actual needs of the users are. I would like to focus on this difference and will work out what the consequences of these discrepancies are.

By throwing light on this gap, it is possible to address these real issues. And make a shift in the discourse, that takes into account the real needs and problems of people and thus could be a basis for the development of a technology that is closer to the people.