Judging Technology, Judging Intent: The Doubling of Need in Design

Confronted by the challenges posed by the development of massive, open, online courses, design in information science research takes on a unique ontological character. Not simply a progression from human needs toward technological fulfillment, it comes to be understood as the eventful moment of the interplay of ethical decision and the material possibilities of technology. Conceptualized as such, design work presents an image of information science as progressive, deeply historical, and imminently concerned with the question of how to live. Starting from a consideration of the social-technical gap, the hermeneutic interplay of the distinct epistemological stances of ethics and technology is discussed, and an ontological understanding of design as centered on the logics of event and hospitality is introduced.