Abstract
We can make a difference in shaping the future by ensuring that computers "serve human needs (Mumford, 1934)." By making explicit the enduring values that we hold dear we can guide computer system designers and developers for the next decade, century, and thereafter. After setting our high-level goals we can pursue the components and seek the process for fulfilling them. High-level goals might include peace, excellent health care, adequate nutrition, accessible education, communication, freedom of expression, support for creative exploration, safety, and socially constructive entertainment. Computer technology can help attain these high-level goals if we clearly state measurable objectives, obtain participation of professionals, and design effective human-computer interfaces. Design considerations include adequate attention to individual differences among users, support of social and organizational structures, design for reliability and safety, provision of access by the elderly, handicapped, or illiterate, and appropriate user controlled adaptation. With suitable theories and empirical research we can achieve ease of learning, rapid performance, low error rates, and good retention over time, while preserving high subjective satisfaction. To raise the consciousness of designers and achieve these goals, we must generate an international debate, stimulate discussions within organizations, and interact with other intellectual communities. This paper calls for a focus on the "you" and "I" in developing improved user interface (UI) research and systems, offers a Declaration of Responsibility, and proposes a Social Impact Statement for major computing projects.
- Eisler, Riane, (1987). The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future, Harper and Row, Publishers, San Francisco, CA.Google Scholar
- Florman, Samuel, (1976). The Existential Pleasures of Engineering, St. Martin's Press, New York, NY. Jin, Gregory K., (1990). An ideological foundation for the MIS profession, In Carey, Jane, Human Factors in Information Systems: Volume 2, Ablex Publishers, Norwood, NJ.Google Scholar
- Kling, Rob, (1980). Social analyses of computing: Theoretical perspectives in recent empirical research, ACM Computing Surveys 12, 1 (March 1980), 61-110. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Mumford, Lewis, (1934). Technics and Civilization, Harcourt Brace and World, Inc., New York, NY.Google Scholar
- Naisbitt, John, (1982). Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives, Warner Books, New York, NY.Google Scholar
- Norman, Don, (1988). The Psychology of Everyday Things, Basic Books, New York, NY.Google Scholar
- Ornstein, Robert and Ehrlich, Paul, (1989). New World New Mind: Moving Towards Conscious Evolution, A Touchstone Book, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.Google Scholar
- Penzias, Arno, (1989). Ideas and Information, Simon and Schuster, New York, NY. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Shneiderman, Ben, (1980). Software Psychology: Human Factors in Computer and Information Systems, Little, Brown and Co., Boston, MA. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Shneiderman, Ben, (1986). Seven plus or minus two central issues in human-computer interaction, ACM CHI'86 Proceedings, ACM, New York, NY, 343-349. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Shneiderman, Ben, (1987) Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Weizenbaum, Joseph, (1976). Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation, W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, CA. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Winograd, Terry and Flores, Fernando, (1986). Understanding Computers and Cognition: A New Foundation for Design, Ablex Publishing Corp., Norwood, NJ. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Zuboff, Shoshanna, (1988). In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work and Power, Basic Books, New York, NY. Google ScholarDigital Library
Index Terms
- Human values and the future of technology: a declaration of responsibility
Recommendations
Human values and the future of technology: a declaration of responsibility
"We must learn to balance the material wonders of technology with the spiritual demands of our human nature."---John Naisbitt (1982).We can make a difference in shaping the future by ensurin g that computers "serve human needs (Mumford, 1934)." By ...
"I am just terrified of my future" Epistemic Violence in Disability Related Technology Research
CHI EA '20: Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsTechnology for disabled people is often developed by non-disabled populations, producing an environment where the perspectives of disabled researchers - particularly when they clash with normative ways of approaching accessible technology - are ...
Comments