HCI and Society: Towards a Typology of Universal Design Principles

Abstract

The task of this article is to focus on aspects of design from a theoretical perspective that works out a general framework of techno-social design that is grounded in the notion of the participatory, cooperative, sustainable information society. The approach is normative in that it is based on the judgment that not just any information society is needed, but one that has specific qualities that this article tries to identify. Methodologically, the article works out a conceptual framework that synthesizes general social theory and human-computer interaction. Design is seen as a social process that shapes society and techno-social systems. First, a model of society that is based on the dialectical interaction of economic, political, and cultural subsystems is introduced. Then, the notion of the the participatory, cooperative, sustainable information society is introduced. This theoretical definition is then used for classifying design principles of techno-social information systems from a social theory perspective.

HCI as a means to prosociality in the economy

“…Here they see value "as the way that actions become meaningful to the actor through incorporation into some larger, social whole, real or imagined." This position accords with Fuchs and Obrist's [35] call for a universal design principle of HCI to be aimed at creating freedom: As an emancipatory force focused on human flourishing rather than a dogmatic means of pursuing unreflexive economic policies.…”

“…At one end of the political side is the call for economic equity (e.g. Fuchs & Obrist, [35]) where the view is that wealth is for all, living standards should be guaranteed, nobody should live in poverty, and the income gap should be reduced. At the opposite end is one of staunch individualism which views society, and indeed macro-economics, as a mere aggregation of individual actions.…”

How to define surveillance?

“…A noção de sociedade da vigilância marca para mim certos aspectos negativos de sociedades da informação heterônomas. Ela se opõe à noção de uma sociedade da informação participativa, cooperativa, sustentável (Fuchs, 2008(Fuchs, , 2010Fuchs, Boersma, Albrechtslund e Sanvoal (2011) Não pretendo dizer que as tecnologias da informação não tenham potenciais positivos, concordo com David Lyon e outros autores, e que a perspectiva de Foucault é muito distópica e faltam visões positivas e estratégias para a transformação da sociedade. A relação da tecnologia da informação e a sociedade é complexa e dialética e, assim, cria potenciais positivos e negativos múltiplos que frequentemente se contradizem (Fuchs, 2008).…”

“…(Fuchs, 2008). Se os processos de informação são centrais em tal sociedade, então não gostaria de denominá-la sociedade da vigilância, mas sociedade solidária da informação ou sociedade da informação participativa, cooperativa, sustentável (Fuchs, 2008(Fuchs, /2010.…”

Communicative Informatics: An Active and Creative Audience Framework of Social Media

“…To stop information sharing, users must physically change their user-profile privacy settings. Even though socially responsible information systems must be easy to use and transparent in how a user's personal data is being used, stored, and transmitted (Fuchs & Obrist, 2010), the usability and information architecture paths to privacy settings can be difficult to understand. The comprehension of website privacy policies and the ability to configure privacy settings by users have been found to be low, even among computer-literate people or young people (Marwick, Murgia-Diaz, & Palfrey, 2010;Proctor & Vu, 2007).…”