Search

This article aims at raising awareness and dialogue about ethical dimensions of human-technology design of socio-technical systems in general, the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) designer responsibility towards users, stakeholders and society in particular, as well as the raise of the dark side of design and the responses of the HCI community to it. This article identifies four dimensions in human-technology interaction design ethics and proposes a universal golden rule for human-technology interaction design. To sum up these different aspects of ethical design and the responsibilities of a designer, this position article concludes with a proposed universal golden rule for designing human-technology interactions: Design as easy to use, honest, sustainable, and safe human-technology interactions as you would want others to design for you.

This thematic issue of four papers focuses on the importance of a socio-technical perspective in research and practice. A socio-technical perspective sees an organization as a combination of two components – a social and a technical one. The real pattern of behavior in the organization is determined by how well these parts fit each other. While analyzing system problems of getting things done, adequate consideration should be given to technology as well as informal and formal interactions of people with the technology as well as with other people using the technology. The papers in this issue present the sociotechnical perspective as a lens enabling researchers and practitioners to simplify the digital complexity in the socio-technical context.