”Varför är du dum i huvudet, liksom?”: en kvalitativ analys av irritation som drivkraft i domesticeringen av röstassistenter i hemmet
(2026) MKVK04 20252Media and Communication Studies
Department of Communication and Media
- Abstract
- This study examines how irritation and frustration emerge, are expressed, and are managed in everyday interactions with voice assistants in the home. Previous research has often treated irritation as a temporary response to technical failures or as an indicator of poor usability. In this thesis, irritation is instead understood as an active and recurring process that contributes to the ongoing domestication of voice assistants—that is, how the relationship between users and voice assistants is shaped and renegotiated over time through long-term use.
The study is based on qualitative in-depth interviews with voice assistant users and is analysed from a theoretical perspective that emphasises sociality and the domestication of everyday... (More) - This study examines how irritation and frustration emerge, are expressed, and are managed in everyday interactions with voice assistants in the home. Previous research has often treated irritation as a temporary response to technical failures or as an indicator of poor usability. In this thesis, irritation is instead understood as an active and recurring process that contributes to the ongoing domestication of voice assistants—that is, how the relationship between users and voice assistants is shaped and renegotiated over time through long-term use.
The study is based on qualitative in-depth interviews with voice assistant users and is analysed from a theoretical perspective that emphasises sociality and the domestication of everyday technology. The analysis shows how users invest voice assistants with social expectations related to responsiveness, smoothness, and presence, while at the same time being aware that they are communicating with a technical artefact. When these expectations are not met, irritation arises and does not remain confined to isolated situations, but instead influences how the technology is used, limited, and adapted in everyday life.
The findings demonstrate that irritation often leads users to modify and develop everyday practices, adjust expectations, and renegotiate their relationship with the voice assistant, rather than abandoning its use altogether. The study thus contributes to a deeper understanding of irritation as part of a dynamic and cyclical domestication process, in which the place of technology in the home is continuously negotiated through everyday experiences of both friction and functionality. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Denna studie undersöker hur irritation och frustration uppstår, uttrycks och hanteras i vardagliga interaktioner med röstassistenter i hemmet. Tidigare forskning har ofta behandlat irritation som ett tillfälligt svar på tekniska misslyckanden eller som en indikation på bristande användbarhet. I denna uppsats ser vi istället på irritation som en aktiv och återkommande process som bidrar till den pågående domesticeringen av röstassistenter, det vill säga hur relationen mellan användare och röstassistent formas och förhandlas om under långsiktig användning.
Studien bygger på kvalitativa djupintervjuer med röstassistentanvändare och analyseras utifrån ett teoretiskt perspektiv som betonar socialitet och domesticering av vardagsteknik.... (More) - Denna studie undersöker hur irritation och frustration uppstår, uttrycks och hanteras i vardagliga interaktioner med röstassistenter i hemmet. Tidigare forskning har ofta behandlat irritation som ett tillfälligt svar på tekniska misslyckanden eller som en indikation på bristande användbarhet. I denna uppsats ser vi istället på irritation som en aktiv och återkommande process som bidrar till den pågående domesticeringen av röstassistenter, det vill säga hur relationen mellan användare och röstassistent formas och förhandlas om under långsiktig användning.
Studien bygger på kvalitativa djupintervjuer med röstassistentanvändare och analyseras utifrån ett teoretiskt perspektiv som betonar socialitet och domesticering av vardagsteknik. Analysen visar hur användare belägger röstassistenten med sociala förväntningar kopplade till responsivitet, smidighet och närvaro, samtidigt som användarna är medvetna om att de kommunicerar med en teknisk apparat. När förväntningarna inte infrias uppstår irritation som inte stannar vid enskilda situationer utan påverkar hur tekniken används, begränsas och anpassas i vardagen.
Resultaten visar att irritationen ofta leder till att användaren förändrar och utvecklar vardagliga praktiker, anpassar förväntningarna och omförhandlar relationen till röstassistenten, snarare än att helt sluta använda den. Studien bidrar därmed till en fördjupad förståelse av irritation som del av en dynamisk och cyklisk domesticeringsprocess, där teknikens plats i hemmet kontinuerligt förhandlas genom vardagliga erfarenheter av både friktion och funktionalitet. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9218007
- author
- Dacke, Annika LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- “Why Are You So Stupid, Like?” Irritation as a Driving Force in the Domestication of Voice Assistants in the Home
- course
- MKVK04 20252
- year
- 2026
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- röstassistenter, röstagenter, conversational AI, domesticering av teknik, socialitet, vardaglig teknikanvändning, voice assistants, conversational agents, technology domestication, sociality everyday technology use
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9218007
- date added to LUP
- 2026-02-17 12:33:17
- date last changed
- 2026-02-17 12:44:41
@misc{9218007,
abstract = {{This study examines how irritation and frustration emerge, are expressed, and are managed in everyday interactions with voice assistants in the home. Previous research has often treated irritation as a temporary response to technical failures or as an indicator of poor usability. In this thesis, irritation is instead understood as an active and recurring process that contributes to the ongoing domestication of voice assistants—that is, how the relationship between users and voice assistants is shaped and renegotiated over time through long-term use.
The study is based on qualitative in-depth interviews with voice assistant users and is analysed from a theoretical perspective that emphasises sociality and the domestication of everyday technology. The analysis shows how users invest voice assistants with social expectations related to responsiveness, smoothness, and presence, while at the same time being aware that they are communicating with a technical artefact. When these expectations are not met, irritation arises and does not remain confined to isolated situations, but instead influences how the technology is used, limited, and adapted in everyday life.
The findings demonstrate that irritation often leads users to modify and develop everyday practices, adjust expectations, and renegotiate their relationship with the voice assistant, rather than abandoning its use altogether. The study thus contributes to a deeper understanding of irritation as part of a dynamic and cyclical domestication process, in which the place of technology in the home is continuously negotiated through everyday experiences of both friction and functionality.}},
author = {{Dacke, Annika}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{”Varför är du dum i huvudet, liksom?”: en kvalitativ analys av irritation som drivkraft i domesticeringen av röstassistenter i hemmet}},
year = {{2026}},
}