Beyond Navigation: Reframing Vocational Fairs as Infrastructures for Identity Orientation. Schröder, L. & Ludwig, T. In 2026. EUSSET. ![Beyond Navigation: Reframing Vocational Fairs as Infrastructures for Identity Orientation [link]](https://bibbase.org/img/filetypes/link.svg "link")
Paper doi abstract bibtex Vocational career fairs are high-stakes events designed to facilitate the transition from school to work, yet technology often fails to mediate these encounters effectively. In this paper, we examine a regional vocational fair in Germany where a mobile companion app remained largely unused. Through a qualitative field study and a series of co-design work-shops with students, we identify why existing designs fail to support this specific setting. We frame vocational fairs as „Asymmetric Transition Spaces“ characterized by status imbalances, semantic gaps in occupational ontologies and interactional vulnerability. Our findings reveal that students do not require mere information tools, but rather "infrastructures for orientation" that support the internal articulation work of professional identity formation. We describe how students envision technology as both a „shield“ and a „bridge“, which means lowering social thresholds through non-human companions while preserving the authenticity of face-to-face encounters. We contribute to CSCW by articulating design sensitivities for asymmetric settings and shifting the focus from event navigation to the support of developmental social transitions.
@inproceedings{schroderNavigationReframingVocational2026,
title = {Beyond {Navigation}: {Reframing} {Vocational} {Fairs} as {Infrastructures} for {Identity} {Orientation}},
shorttitle = {Beyond {Navigation}},
url = {https://dl.eusset.eu/handle/20.500.12015/5556},
doi = {10.48340/ecscw2026_057},
abstract = {Vocational career fairs are high-stakes events designed to facilitate the transition from school to work, yet technology often fails to mediate these encounters effectively. In this paper, we examine a regional vocational fair in Germany where a mobile companion app remained largely unused. Through a qualitative field study and a series of co-design work-shops with students, we identify why existing designs fail to support this specific setting. We frame vocational fairs as „Asymmetric Transition Spaces“ characterized by status imbalances, semantic gaps in occupational ontologies and interactional vulnerability. Our findings reveal that students do not require mere information tools, but rather "infrastructures for orientation" that support the internal articulation work of professional identity formation. We describe how students envision technology as both a „shield“ and a „bridge“, which means lowering social thresholds through non-human companions while preserving the authenticity of face-to-face encounters. We contribute to CSCW by articulating design sensitivities for asymmetric settings and shifting the focus from event navigation to the support of developmental social transitions.},
language = {en},
urldate = {2026-06-17},
publisher = {EUSSET},
author = {Schröder, Lukas and Ludwig, Thomas},
year = {2026},
}
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