Beyond human centered design?

ABSTRACT

The concept of the user and user-centered design is central to the history of SIGCHI and the culture the Designing Interactive Systems conferences. The idea of the user and designing around user requirements and contexts of use were a radical development in relation to a culture of computing that had evolved around scarce computing power to focus on efficient use of these resources and the needs of computing technicians. But today does a diminished view of the user, and corporate cowardice, leave people short-changed with respect to the design of new products? Is user research helping designers to really understand the people for who they are designing, or blinkering designers view of possible solutions? Is user-centered design ensuring that products fit the needs and contexts of users, or acting as a bulwark to qualitative developments in interface design? How should we re-imagine humans in user-centered design?There will be four panellists in total, with a balance between practitioners, theorists, research agencies, commentators, and client 'user' representatives.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  J. Computer Applications
  J.4 SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
      Subjects: Psychology

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.2 User/Machine Systems
          Subjects: Human factors
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: User-centered design

  J. Computer Applications
  J.4 SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
      Subjects: Sociology

General Terms:
Design, Human Factors

Keywords:
consumer focus, empowerment, ethnography, human agency, human-centered design, innovation, usability, user research, user-centered design