Exploring experiences around digital technology and its role in everyday life
Led by Dr Cate Pemble
Digital technology plays an important role in many of our lives, shaping how we work, learn, access services, manage money, keep in touch, seek information, and spend spend our free time. But being able to take part in digital life is about more than owning a device or having an internet connection.
The Digital Access and Exclusion strand of the Changing Intergenerational Relationships (CIR) project is exploring how people living and working in Stirling and Clackmannanshire experience technology in everyday life. We are interested in what helps people access and use digital technology in ways that are useful, safe, and meaningful, and in the barriers that can make this more difficult.
Our research recognises that digital access is shaped by the circumstances of people’s lives. Reliable, affordable connectivity matters, but so do having a suitable device, the skills and confidence to use it, trust in digital systems, accessible design, and the opportunity to use technology for things that matter.
What is a life-history interview?
Many research interviews focus on one issue at a time. A life-history interview takes a wider view.
Rather than asking people only whether they use technology, this approach invites them to reflect on how technology has featured in their lives over time. Participants might discuss their first experiences of digital technology, the devices and services they use now, changes in work and education, experiences of online services, relationships with family and friends, health and care, and hopes or concerns about the future.
This matters because digital access and exclusion do not affect everyone in the same way. Someone may have an internet connection but no suitable device for work, study, or more detailed online tasks. Someone else may have the equipment they need but find a website difficult to use, lack confidence online, worry about privacy or scams, or encounter a service that does not meet their access needs. Others may decide not to use particular technologies because they do not trust them, do not find them useful, or prefer another way of doing things.
Using life histories allows us to understand these experiences in context by helping us to explore how people’s relationships with technology are shaped by different points in life, work and education, finances, health, family relationships, local services, and the changing expectations placed on them over time.
We are continuing to recruit people with a wide range of experiences: people who feel confident and well supported in digital life, people who face significant barriers, and people whose experiences sit somewhere in between. Participants are invited to reflect on experiences such as:
- Using technology at home, at work, in education, or in the community.
- Accessing reliable, affordable internet and appropriate devices.
- Learning new skills, building confidence, and deciding when or whether to use particular technologies.
- Using online services for information, shopping, banking, health and care, and local or government services.
- Using technology to communicate with family, friends, colleagues, and wider communities.
- Experiencing the advantages and difficulties created when services, information, and everyday activities move online.
- Managing privacy, safety, misinformation, digital boundaries, and expectations to be available or respond quickly.
- Finding technology accessible, or encountering barriers related to disability, neurodiversity, health, language, finances, or other aspects of people’s lives.
What is a community workshop?
A community workshop brings people together to explore ideas, compare experiences, and imagine what could change. Unlike an interview, which focuses on an individual’s story, workshops make space for discussion between people with different backgrounds, ages, experiences, and perspectives.
Our forthcoming workshops will take themes emerging from the life-history interviews back to local communities. Participants will be invited to discuss whether these themes reflect their own experiences, where they need more nuance, and what might help people take part in digital life in ways that work for them.
The workshops are likely to explore:
- What meaningful digital access looks like beyond simply having a device or internet connection.
- How the affordability, reliability, and quality of devices and connectivity shape everyday life.
- How skills, confidence, motivation, privacy, trust, and accessibility shape people’s ability and willingness to use digital tools.
- How technology shapes work, education, care, services, relationships, leisure, and participation in community life.
- How people of different ages describe technology, digital skills, and changing expectations.
- What resources, services, community spaces, and forms of support could make digital participation more accessible and useful.
We will add further information and emerging insights here as the workshops take place.
Early Insights
The Digital Access and Exclusion research is still underway, so the sections below present early insights rather than final findings. They draw on the digital life-history interviews completed so far, alongside relevant accounts of technology shared in earlier CIR research activities.
Access is more than connection
Digital poverty is sometimes understood as a simple question of whether someone has a device or an internet connection. The early accounts gathered through CIR suggest a more complex picture.
Access can depend on whether an internet connection is reliable and affordable, whether a device is suitable for the task, whether someone can use it with confidence, whether services meet their access needs, and whether going online offers something useful or necessary. A smartphone may be enough for communication or simple tasks, but less suitable for online learning, job applications, detailed forms, or more complex work.
This does not make devices and connectivity less important, but it does mean they may not resolve every barrier on their own. Digital inclusion also involves skills, support, accessible systems, trust, and opportunities to use technology in meaningful ways.
Technology, change, and everyday life
Technology can create new ways to communicate, learn, access information, manage everyday tasks, use services, work, and stay connected with other people. It can also bring new demands: to have a suitable device, keep up with changing systems, develop unfamiliar skills, trust online services, or respond more quickly than people were once expected to.
The interviews completed so far suggest that people’s relationships with technology develop over time. Participants have described first encounters with technology, what makes it useful or necessary, how they learn new skills, and the devices, information, support, and opportunities available to them.
The interviews completed so far suggest that people’s relationships with technology develop over time. Participants have described first encounters with technology, what makes it useful or necessary, how they learn new skills, and the devices, information, support, and opportunities available to them. Work is one important part of this picture, but similar questions arise in relation to services, health and care, education, communication, leisure, and community life. As recruitment and community workshops continue, we will explore these early insights further and hear from a wider range of people.
Expectations can create exclusion
As services, workplaces, and everyday activities become more digital, people may be expected to have a suitable device, reliable internet access, the necessary skills, and confidence navigating online systems. When these assumptions do not hold, accessing information, services, opportunities, or support can become more difficult.
This can be particularly significant when processes that were once available in person, by telephone, or on paper become primarily digital. Early accounts suggest that the question is not always whether someone is “able” or “willing” to use technology, but whether the technology, service, or support available fits their circumstances and access needs.
Accessibility, trust, and choice matter
The early interviews have also drawn attention to accessibility, trust, and choice.
Participants have described the potential value of assistive technology and digital tools that support access and participation. At the same time, digital systems can create barriers when they do not account for different access needs. People’s engagement with digital services may also be shaped by concerns about privacy, safety, security, scams, misinformation, surveillance, and pressure to be constantly connected.
Choosing not to use a particular platform, service, or device should not automatically be treated as a lack of capability. For some people, non-use may reflect a practical preference, concerns about trust or privacy, previous negative experiences, or a wish to retain control over how they communicate and access services.
As this work continues, we will explore how people make these decisions in different circumstances, and what forms of access, support, and choice make the greatest difference to them.
