Premium
Constructing the user
Author(s) -
Gage Stephen A
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
systems research and behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 1092-7026
DOI - 10.1002/sres.789
Subject(s) - performative utterance , architecture , computer science , framing (construction) , illusion , human–computer interaction , variety (cybernetics) , aesthetics , engineering , artificial intelligence , psychology , art , visual arts , cognitive psychology , structural engineering
Abstract A distinction is drawn between the design of settings that are part of the performative framing of immediate behaviour and the often more difficult task of constructing an architecture of possibilities. Analogies are drawn to the work of stage magicians and software interface designers that suggest some attributes of both of the above aspects of architecture. The concept of ‘Utilitas’ is explored both as a way of reducing variety in order to allow for the orderly introduction of change and as a way of introducing a rich and complex user illusion. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.