Short answer

When designing digital products, consider not only the immediate platform features but also the potential for your product to become a fundamental, widely adopted 'infrastructure,' influencing public access and societal norms.

Field: Innovation & Design
Source: New Media & Society (2016)
Method: Theoretical framework development and case study analysis
Evidence: Strong effect

Combining infrastructure and platform studies offers a more comprehensive framework for analyzing the design and impact of digital systems like Google and Facebook. This innovation & design research insight is drawn from a 2016 study published in New Media & Society. Using Theoretical framework development and case study analysis, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: When designing digital products, consider not only the immediate platform features but also the potential for your product to become a fundamental, widely adopted 'infrastructure,' influencing public access and societal norms.

Study

Innovation & DesignHigh ImpactStrong effect

Integrating infrastructure and platform perspectives enhances understanding of digital media evolution and design constraints

Combining infrastructure and platform studies offers a more comprehensive framework for analyzing the design and impact of digital systems like Google and Facebook.

New Media & Society · 2016

Key Findings

01Infrastructure studies effectively explains the evolution of shared, widely accessible digital systems and services, often with public interest implications.
02Platform studies captures how communication and expression are enabled and constrained by new digital systems and media.
03Platform-based services increasingly acquire characteristics of infrastructure, while existing infrastructures are being reorganized on the logic of platforms.
04A combined framework provides a more robust understanding of the interplay between technological design, societal impact, and regulatory challenges in digital media.

Application

Design takeaway

How to apply

When developing a new social media app, consider how its design choices (e.g., content moderation, data privacy) might impact its long-term role as a public communication channel, rather than just a private service.

Project actions

01When designing a digital product, analyze its potential to become a widely adopted 'infrastructure' and list the ethical considerations that arise.
02Evaluate existing digital products (e.g., Instagram, TikTok) through both an 'infrastructure' lens (how it's used by many, its societal impact) and a 'platform' lens (its specific features, algorithms, and user interactions).

Method & Evidence

AimTo demonstrate how the cross-articulation of infrastructure studies and platform studies improves understanding of current digital media.

MethodTheoretical framework development and case study analysis

ProcedureThe authors analyzed the Open Web, Facebook, and Google as case studies, applying both infrastructure and platform studies lenses to understand their evolution, characteristics, and societal roles. They then articulated how these two perspectives complement each other.

ContextDigital media and technology landscape, focusing on large-scale online systems.

Variables

IVTheoretical framework (combined infrastructure and platform studies)

DVUnderstanding of digital media (Open Web, Facebook, Google)

CVSpecific digital entities chosen for case studies

Strengths & Limitations

Strengths

+Provides a robust theoretical framework for analyzing complex digital systems.
+Offers a nuanced understanding of the evolution and impact of major digital players.
+Highlights the interplay between technology, society, and regulation.

Limitations

This is a theoretical paper, so it doesn't offer direct experimental data. Applying it to very niche or small-scale digital products might be challenging.

Reliability & validity

The study's reliability stems from its clear conceptual definitions and consistent application across case studies. Validity is supported by its ability to offer a more comprehensive explanation of complex digital phenomena than either approach alone, though it is theoretical and not empirically tested.

Think critically

How might the 'infrastructuralization' of a platform (e.g., Facebook becoming a primary news source) influence its design decisions regarding content moderation, data privacy, and accessibility?

Design Principles

"Design for infrastructural scalability and societal impact from the outset, recognizing that successful platforms often evolve into critical public utilities."

Understanding how digital platforms evolve into critical infrastructure, and how infrastructure adopts platform-like characteristics, is crucial for designing responsible, innovative, and user-centric digital products. This dual perspective informs how designers can anticipate the societal impact and regulatory challenges of their creations.

What This Means for Your Design

When you design a new app or website, think about it in two ways: first, as a 'platform' with specific rules and features for users, and second, as a potential 'infrastructure' that could become a vital part of how society communicates, like roads or electricity. Both perspectives help you design better.

How to use in your project

1.When analyzing existing products, discuss how they function as both a 'platform' (specific features, user interaction) and an 'infrastructure' (widespread use, societal impact).
2.In your design brief or analysis, explicitly consider the potential for your proposed digital solution to become an 'infrastructure' and outline the ethical and societal implications of this evolution.

Add to My Project

Quick Cite

Paragraph starter

Plantin et al. (2016) argue that understanding digital media, such as social networks and search engines, requires a dual analytical approach, combining 'infrastructure studies' and 'platform studies.' Infrastructure studies illuminate how widely accessible systems evolve to serve public interest, while platform studies focus on how specific digital systems enable and constrain communication. This integrated perspective is crucial for designers to recognize that successful platforms often acquire infrastructural characteristics, demanding a broader consideration of their societal impact and ethical responsibilities from the initial design stages.

Source

New Media & Society

Infrastructure studies meet platform studies in the age of Google and Facebook

journal · 2016

View source

Questions About This Research

What does the research say about integrating infrastructure and platform perspectives enhances understanding of digital media evolution and design constraints?: When designing digital products, consider not only the immediate platform features but also the potential for your product to become a fundamental, widely adopted 'infrastructure,' influencing public access and societal norms. Evidence: New Media & Society (2016).
Why does "Integrating infrastructure and platform perspectives enhances understanding of digital media evolution and design constraints" matter for design?: Understanding how digital platforms evolve into critical infrastructure, and how infrastructure adopts platform-like characteristics, is crucial for designing responsible, innovative, and user-centric digital products. This dual perspective informs how designers can anticipate the societal impact and regulatory challenges of their creations.
How can designers apply this research?: When designing digital products, consider not only the immediate platform features but also the potential for your product to become a fundamental, widely adopted 'infrastructure,' influencing public access and societal norms.
What were the main findings?: Infrastructure studies effectively explains the evolution of shared, widely accessible digital systems and services, often with public interest implications.. Platform studies captures how communication and expression are enabled and constrained by new digital systems and media.. Platform-based services increasingly acquire characteristics of infrastructure, while existing infrastructures are being reorganized on the logic of platforms.. A combined framework provides a more robust understanding of the interplay between technological design, societal impact, and regulatory challenges in digital media.
What research method was used?: Theoretical framework development and case study analysis.
How strong is the evidence?: Evidence strength is rated Strong effect, based on a 2016 journal from New Media & Society.
What should I do differently in my next project?: When developing a new social media app, consider how its design choices (e.g., content moderation, data privacy) might impact its long-term role as a public communication channel, rather than just a private service.
What are the limitations?: The paper is theoretical and conceptual, not empirical. It focuses on large, established digital entities, and its applicability to smaller, nascent platforms might require adaptation.