The everyday design of service: A single case study of the Soft Center reception area

The low-paying work of receptionists, who are predominantly women, may appear simple and unskilled from a distance. This study employs qualitative feminist research methodologies to examine these perceptions in a single setting: the reception area shared by many companies and the University of Karlskrona/Ronneby in Ronneby Sweden in the Soft Center, an incubator for research and development of applied information technology. Using ethnographic data collection methods, the study examines how reception workers design the service they provide, focusing particularly on tasks, communication, coordination and bridging skills, and integrating the paradigms of Activity Theory, Interactionist Perspectives, Distributed Cognition and Skill and Technology. The results suggest that reception work is a form of "invisible work:" work whose complexities and organizing principles become visible when examined closely, but fade when viewed from a distance. The author discusses the implications of this study for future research in reception work and, more broadly, other forms of invisible work performed by women.