From longhand writing to word processing: A phenomenological study of the technophobe turned novelist

Abstract

Firmly grounded on the assumption that using digital technology is an intentional, conscious and subjective experience, this study adopts a transcendental phenomenological approach to reveal the meaning of the individual experience of using digital technology. This study reports the experience of a self-described technophobe, creative woman, who, after learning how to type on a computer keyboard, used word processor software on a donated computer to write and eventually publish a novel. As result of a reflective analysis, according to the tenets of transcendental phenomenology, the essence of the lifeworld phenomenon of using digital technology revealed three interdependent experiences: imaginative, epiphanic and symbiotic. This study explains how an individual uses digital technology to fulfil her needs and achieve her goals as well as demonstrates the potential of transcendental phenomenology in information systems research.