3.34 Simonsen, J., M. Hertzum, J.L. Nielsen and S. Riis (2014): “Toward a Theory for the Design of Human Technologies,” in Tuck Wah Leong, Toni Robertson, Kenton O’Hara, Greg Wadley, and Lian Loke (Eds.): Proceedings of the 26th Conference of the Computer-Human Interaction Special Interest Group of Australia on Computer-Human Interaction, OZCHI'2014, Sydney, Australia, December 2nd - 5th, 2014: Designing Futures: the Future of Design, ACM.

Abstract

Design is increasingly becoming a part of the university curriculum and research agenda. A theory about the pro- cess and practice of design might be important to estab- lish design as a main subject at universities. We believe it is in the interest of many design communities – not least the Participatory Design (PD) community – to engage in theorizing design, on the basis of our understanding of design and design practices. This theory could be posi- tioned as an alternative to other attempts to theorize de- sign, for example the influential efforts of the Information Systems (IS) community. We urge the PD community to engage in collective theory building, and we present a framework intended to support our shared reflections on the design of human technologies.

Keywords Design, theory, epistemology, framework.