The Human-Centred Paradigm in KBS Design Theory

Abstract

In this paper we outline two radically different approaches to Knowledge Based Systems development and suggest that progress has been hampered through uncritical adoption of the methods and metaphors of hard science, leading to a ‘techno-centric’ conception of knowledge. The technical advantages of this approach however, tend to be gained at the expense of the overall human-machine functionality by denying the value of the user’s construction of knowledge and subserving the user’s problem solving ability to the dictates of pre-conceived software. The contrasting, human-oriented, approach to developing systems views knowledge as socially distributed and owned, implying methods for agreeing common understanding coupled with a devolution of responsibility for knowledge construction onto those whose world it affects.