Community Technology Design

Economic and Institutional Viability

Design ResearchSocial and

Environmental Needs/Opportunities

History Community Technology Design 1:workplace and public space design

UK 1982 Irish engineer Mike Cooley sees threat of increasing automation, coins “Human Centered Design” as workplace practicesthat preserve skills, autonomy and dignity.

US: 1975 Fred Kent: Project for PublicSpaces (Bryant park before and after)

Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden): 1970sstrong design tradition, highly educated workforce1970: Trade unions demand participation in design of new workplace technologies1980s: “Collective resource approach” (Bødker, Ehn, King, etc.)1990s: “Cooperative Design” rejected by US, but “Participatory Design” (eg Doug Schuler in US) sells well.

UK 1962: Economist Schumaker launches what eventually becomesthe Appropriate Technology movement, mainly for 3rd world tech. 1973 writes “Small is Beautiful”

US 1980s Warren and Brokeshaw, “Indigneous Knowledge in Development.”1990s United Nations begins programs for IK in development

US in 1990s: Psychiatrist Paul Polak working incommunity-based mental health (Denver homelessvets) applies his community-based approach to social entrepreneurship ventures in India.

History Community Technology Design 2:3rd World Development

1940s: ergonomics; human factors engr: “the science of design”1960s: human-computer interaction: “user experience is complex”1990s: Contextual design, user-centered design, interaction design2000s: DIY, Open Source, Hackathons, Maker movements

The International Standards Organization describes 6 key principles that will ensure a design is user centered:

•The design is based upon an explicit understanding of users, tasks and environments.•Users are involved throughout design and development.•The design is driven and refined by user-centered evaluation.•The process is iterative.•The design addresses the whole user experience.•The design team includes multidisciplinary skills and perspectives.

History Community Technology Design 3:IT and computing

Public Lab for Open Technologies

Frameworks related to Community Technology Design

3rd World Dev

•Appropriate Technology•Social Entrepreneurship•Indigenous Knowledge in Development

Lay Participation

•Cooperative Design•Participatory Design•Public Interest Design

HCI and IT

•User Centered Design•Contextual Design•Open Source•DIY, Maker Movement

Some Community Technology Design is in 3rd world Development

Even in the case of 3rd world designs, some become1st world products

1990s: Nicholas Negroponte works with laptops in 3rd world (Senegal, Cambodia)

2005: Negroponte presents idea of $100 laptop at the World Economic Forum

2007: ASUS and Intel create commercial alternative

Some Community Technology Design happens in the first world

Community of “Persons with Disability”

1988: Sam Farber noticeshis wife’s arthritis prevents herfrom cooking, which she loves

Farber realizes there are entirecommunities who could benefit: from better grips: persons with disability, senior citizens, etc.

Collaborating with NY firm “Smart Design” they create Oxo Good Grips: turns out everyone likes it better!

Oxo and OLPC lessons:

•A community is any group of people with a “collective identity”: geographic, “community of practice”, etc.)

•Community design does not have to be “pro-bono charity”—in fact it often does more good when combined with entrepreneurship, even for open source.

•The technologies designed for a particular community might also be a better choice for many people outside of it

IDEO: Human Centered Design

Productive Tensions in Community Technology Design

community individual

Productive Tensions in Community Technology Design

community individual

Productive Tensions in Community Technology Design

community individual

Productive Tensions in Community Technology Design

GreenTech(environment)

Red Tech(jobs)

Productive Tensions in Community Technology Design

GreenTech(environment)

Red Tech(jobs)

Productive Tensions in Community Technology Design

Publicallyowned

proprietary

Productive Tensions in Community Technology Design

Democratize(given them what they want)

Optimize(design for health, environment,social justice)

Productive Tensions in Community Technology Design

Democratize(given them what they want)

Optimize(design for health, environment,social justice)

Youth subculture: negative and positive sides