| From the very earliest of 1950s,people started to consider time as an quantified object that is manageable.The rise of post-Fordism brought about changes of flexibility in the time structure of the society,and the question of how to make the most of time and live in an efficient way became an issue of social concern.Time management apps then emerged with the advent of mobile communication,which made time use techniques dedicated to help users make priorities and schedule in daily life,thus improving efficiency in work.There are in total over 100 million downloads of time management apps in the application market of mobiles.In this context,this research applies participant observation and in-depth interviews to understand how time management apps are embedded in users’ daily life.The users of time management apps are selected as interviewees.The Domestication Theory of Silverstone is taken as the theoretical framework,which includes pre-domestication,appropriation,integration,and conversion.At the same time,the Ternary Space Theory of Henri Lefebvre,typology of time by Anthony Giddens and Peter Ahlheit,as well as triple articulation of Hartmann are taken as conceptual resources to investigate the process of commodification,consumption,and adoption of time management apps.The research also take insight into users’ strategies when using time management apps,and sheds lights on the material meaning and symbolic meaning during this process.As there are too many time management apps in the application market,this research focuses on Forest and Fanqie Todo,the top two most downloaded.The research found that,firstly,time management apps portray itself as a tool for productive work and life catering to the uses’ time values before they are formally launched to the market.Users are attracted to their simplicity,the function for focusing,blocking,timing,and the visualisation of data.Users download it and use it for personal needs,relationships and personal habits.Time management apps become embedded in the physical,mental and social space of the user,due to its mobility,capability of blocking information and the establishment and bonding of social relationships.On the other hand,time management apps can be synchronized with the user’s daily routine.Users can take strategies such as reconfiguring the sequence of time to reorganize their schedule.In this way,the integration is completed.Finally,the conversion in the domestication of time management apps is discussed at three levels:time management apps as technology and object,time management apps as media text,and time management apps as context. |
