There has long been a demand for product developers and designers to look beyond their own wishes, needs and goals and create products that are centred on people and add value in this sense. In...
In this context, an increasing number of terms are being bandied about in the UX design world to describe this attitude: user-centred design, human-centred design, humanity-centred design, value-centred design or also society-centred design - just to name a few terms.
Ultimately, all of these terms are about sensitising people to the fact that design not only affects one "user", but also an entire ecosystem around this user. After all, the user and the products and services we design do not live in a vacuum.
The socio-ecological responsibility of design
Despite the many terminologies and the different understandings of what exactly is meant by what, much of what is discussed today was already considered at the outset:
In Don Normans Publication "User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction", the social context of technology was already considered (Norman & Draper, 1986).
Another early thought leader, Viktor Papanekdescribed in the book "Design for the real world. Human Ecology and Social Change" already emphasises the responsibility of designers in the first sentence: "There are professions more harmful than industrial design, but only a few" (Papanek, 1984).
We therefore do not wish to adhere to terminology and strict distinctions between e.g. user-centred design vs human-centred design hang up. We assume that all terms are about communicating that the social or societal responsibility of design must be included and considered in the design process, because our work also has an impact on other stakeholders such as other people who are not direct users of our product or service, as well as society as a whole and the environment.
Why the socio-ecological perspective on experience design is becoming increasingly important
In current practice - in our experience - the focus is in fact very often only on users.and the stakeholdersin the narrower sense. The aim is to develop products and services that solve people's problems - the primary focus here is on the "needs" of users ("user needs") and solutions are then developed on this basis. As the company developing the products and services is aiming for growth and therefore financial, measurable success with these products and services, the needs of these stakeholders are also taken into account. However, there is too often a lack of inclusion of other spatial, social or cultural contexts that may be affected by the product. These contexts are simply often either underestimated or forgotten.
The Times They Are A-Changin‘
We are currently in a period in which a change in perception is taking place. The reasons for this can be manifold and certainly influence each other.
The effects of Ubicomp (omnipresence of computers, invisibility of systems) is now socially perceptible and even a topic in popular TV series such as Black Mirror. As a result, the implications of technology in relation to society are increasingly being discussed within the tech industry.
Social movements and activists such as Fridays for Future and the Last Generation are using the media to address the impact of people, their lifestyles and therefore also their products on the planet. This also means that the impact of technology is being thematised. Sometimes to an extent that has a negative impact on the measurable success of the product, e.g. the energy consumption of cryptocurrencies or NFTs.
Another possible aspect is the growing market of the platform economy (see Platform economy on Wikipedia), whose on-demand and convenience services are incredibly practical and convenient for the individual, but which can have negative socio-ecological effects that affect us all. Examples include mobility service providers for e-scooters, free same-day deliveries from large online shop portals and food delivery services with very short delivery times.
You don't have to use these services yourself to be directly affected by them. For example, who has never had to dodge an e-scooter parked in the middle of the pavement in an urban environment? Services that affect uninvolved people and thus cause annoyance have almost certainly neglected spatial, social and/or cultural contexts in their design.
The platform economy is only possible through technology - a technology that sometimes affects citizens to such an extent that they harbour a personal grudge against these services.
Conclusion
Technical developments and various social movements have increasingly sensitised society to the influence of technology on the (social) environment. Designers and companies will have to respond to this. Design, which also places society at the centre of the development of products and services, is currently becoming increasingly important. The aim is to ensure that technology fulfils the needs and requirements of society as a whole and not just individual stakeholders.
Outlook
We will soon be presenting a proposal for a model on this topic that can help in practice to integrate the socio-ecological impact of products or services into the design process.
This article is part of the series "What's coming, what's staying 2023". In this series, we would like to present some topics that are important to us for this year (and beyond), that are increasingly being discussed in the industry and that are important for product and service development in companies - i.e. product managers, developers and UX designers. You can find the first part on inclusive design here here.
Sources and literature tips
Norman, D. A., & Draper, S. W. (1986). User Centred System Design: New Perspectives on Human-computer Interaction. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Papanek, V. (1984). Design for the Real World. Human Ecology and Social Change. Thames and Hudson.
Rico Grimm: Why NFTs are not likely to destroy the climate (but Bitcoin is) https://krautreporter.de/4200-warum-nfts-eher-nicht-das-klima-zerstoren-bitcoin-aber-schon
Header Picture: People illustrations by Storyset
