Human-centered Responsibility

Carlie Guilfoile
Sep 5, 2018 · 2 min read

9/4/18

Designers hold a great deal of responsibility. This week’s readings by Stuart Brand and Mark Weiser firmly chiseled that into my mind. After reading Weiser, The Computer for the 21st Century, I was slightly agitated (...for reasons I’m still trying to understand), but also more aware of how today’s interaction designers will shape, create and determine the future of ubiquitous computing.

Will it be driven by attention-seeking, habit-driven apps/notification systems or responsive to natural human tendencies and needs? Many of Mark’s predictions (the piece was written in 1991) have already materialized– like the different sizes of computers for different uses– but it is yet to be determined how we will use our computers when they are everywhere. Interaction designers are morally responsible to ask tough questions about this future and how our design decisions will shape society.

Brand’s article, How Buildings Learn, communicated the permanence and subsequent lifecycles of a designer’s work. Brand’s 4 layers of longevity provide a nice framework for explaining the role of an interaction designer and how other’s might relate to their work.

As Frank Duffy describes it:

  • Shell is the structure, which lasts a lifetime
  • Services are the cabling, plumbing and air conditioning, which last 15+ years
  • Scenery is the layout & design of space, which lasts about 5–7 years
  • Set is the shifting of furniture by the occupants, can change by the month or the week

As interaction designers, we work on the services (the apps/programs) and scenery (the visual look & structure) layers of the design. Nonetheless, as we know well, our users engage and create their own hacks & preferences which will change the set of our designs. So, “How can [they] change for the humans [that use] them, rather than away, as so many seem to do?”

“Age plus adaptivity is what makes a building come to be loved.”

As interaction designers, we should design with foresight, as to create a structure flexible enough to grow with and adaptive enough to learn from.

Carlie Guilfoile

Written by

Product Designer @ Code for America | carliekarma.com

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