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.