Uncovering Gig Worker-Centered Design Opportunities in Food Delivery Work

Ma, Shuhao; Bala, Paulo; Nisi, Valentina; Zimmerman, John; Nunes, Nuno

doi:10.1145/3563657.3596123

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…The large scale and operating model of the mainstream platforms creates a large power asymmetry between them and other stakeholders, especially restaurants and couriers [16,48]. Given the concentrated power that mainstream platforms possess, recent studies in the CSCW and HCI communities have explored harms associated with them, such as harassment and bias towards vulnerable gig workers, and information asymmetries in algorithm management [22,25,26,44]. Furthermore, researchers have described how the needs of restaurant owners and couriers are not reflected in the design of food delivery platforms [14,23,35,39,51].…”

Section: Mainstream Food Delivery Platforms: Features and Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such design should enable key information revealing like the pricing schema to bring customers more space for comparing the service and quality between indie and mainstream platforms. Furthermore, the framework should include gig worker-centered design to improve the life of couriers [26]. Recent literature on Mastodon has already shown the great potential for affordable, federated systems to become the alternative to existing powerful platforms and fill the gap between the demand of users and the design of the platform [32,50].…”

Section: Siloing Of Technology Impedes Indie Platformsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mapping the Landscape of Independent Food Delivery Platforms in the United States

Liu,

Liaqat,

Zhang

et al. 2024

Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact.

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Beyond the well-known giants like Uber Eats and DoorDash, there are hundreds of independent food delivery platforms in the United States. However, little is known about the sociotechnical landscape of these "indie'' platforms. In this paper, we analyzed these platforms to understand why they were created, how they operate, and what technologies they use. We collected data on 495 indie platforms and detailed survey responses from 29 platforms. We found that personalized, timely service is a central value of indie platforms, as is a sense of responsibility to the local community they serve. Indie platforms are motivated to provide fair rates for restaurants and couriers. These alternative business practices differentiate them from mainstream platforms. Though indie platforms have plans to expand, a lack of customizability in off-the-shelf software prevents independent platforms from personalizing services for their local communities. We show that these platforms are a widespread and longstanding fixture of the food delivery market. We illustrate the diversity of motivations and values to explain why a one-size-fits-all support is insufficient, and we discuss the siloing of technology that inhibits platforms' growth. Through these insights, we aim to promote future HCI research into the potential development of public-interest technologies for local food delivery.

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Section: Mainstream Food Delivery Platforms: Features and Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Siloing Of Technology Impedes Indie Platformsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the Landscape of Independent Food Delivery Platforms in the United States

Liu,

Liaqat,

Zhang

et al. 2024

Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Second, social media groups are notorious for inadvertently risking information scams. In a study on gig workers in Portugal, Ma et al (2023) show that unregulated social media communities exposed workers to scams, especially scams that promised to help workers gain an edge professionally. Social media sites like Facebook support selective membership recruitment by giving rights to a group moderator or moderators to control group admission based on group criteria.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Workplace learning and information exchange among gig workers: crowdsourcing and the social media advantage

Aroonsri,

Crocco

2023

JWL

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Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand the scope and nature of information sharing as a form of workplace learning among gig workers. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from public social media communities of gig workers in Thailand. In total, 338 posts and 3,022 comments on the posts were analyzed (data corpus N = 3,360). Thailand was selected for the context of this study given its high level of social media penetration, a high percentage of digital service consumption of internet users and the prevalence of app-based gig workers. This study used thematic analysis using inductive and semantic coding to generate themes. Findings Findings showed two overarching themes of information sharing, which included on-the-job experience and inquiries. One surprising finding was the extent to which gig workers used social media to help others even when it potentially undermined their success. Research limitations/implications This study adds evidence to the role of information sharing in workplace learning and illustrates how gig workers who do not have access to traditional training and learning opportunities use social media communities to fill this need. Originality/value Given the surge of digitalization and internet infrastructure leading to the rise of gig work worldwide, this study provides a closer look at how gig workers are using social media communities to facilitate workplace learning and support one another amid otherwise difficult and insecure working conditions. It also discusses the role that culture plays in facilitating a cooperative rather than a competitive environment among drivers.

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