[ 8] Bannon, L. J. “The Politics of Design: Representing Work.” Communications of the ACM 38, 9 (1995): 66–68. See Winogrand and Flores [ 9] for early work on epistemologies in system design.
other. It will affect perceptions of health and safety. It will challenge the balance between protection and privacy. The goal to keep grandma safe is a valid one, but along with the readily apparent benefits, there are consequences to account for and consider.
Trade-offs are the heart of the matter. The critical point is not that representation as reality is better or worse than representation as response as a design philosophy, it is that each approach frames the same problem differently. It’s a matter of recognizing that each approach will have intended and unintended consequences, some that cannot be anticipated but many that can. It’s a matter of choosing what we value. It’s a matter of epistemology.
November + December 2009
interactions
Given what I’ve described regarding the limitations of the representation as reality approach, why do I long for an indisputable account of Flight 447? Why do I want black boxes that were designed with the representation as reality approach?
Separating Mindsets and Methods. In asking these questions, I have confounded methods and mindsets. An approach to research or practice typically consists of an epistemology—or mindset—and techniques for putting this epistemology into practice. At its simplest, an epistemology is a bumper sticker: “Life Is a Dance. Get Moving” would appeal to those who see life as fundamentally about rhythm and engagement, whereas “Life Sucks and Then You Die” describes a darker, more cynical view. As researchers and designers, the
epistemologies guiding our work are a bit more complex (maybe), but the idea is the same [ 8].
Mindsets and methods complement but do not replace each other. A positivist scientist might tend to value experimental methods but could also use experiential ones, in an effort to deduce the truth. On the other hand, a constructivist scientist might favor experiential methods but could also use experimental ones, in an effort to illuminate how truth unfolds. The mindset determines how methods are employed and to what ends.
Reality as Mindset or Method.
The representation as reality approach describes both a mindset and a method. As a mindset, it construes reality as predetermined rather than an activity of interpretation. Information or representations about the world are tantamount to meaning in the world. As method, representation as reality consists of a one-to-one correspondence between objects and symbols. For example, sensor readings of electricity usage in the proactive home track as faithfully as possible the actual electricity usage.
Mixing It Up. Representation as reality methods are often motivated by a representation as reality mindset, but this does not have to be the case. The proactive home employs one-to-one correspondence techniques but could also be implemented, interpreted, and evaluated from a representation as response mindset. For instance, its success could be evaluated in terms of redefining family relationships or conceptions of the home.
The HHH and the TM systems, designed from a representation as response mindset, use
some representation as reality techniques. The system designs employ complex models to approximate what is ”actually” happening in the home—e.g., daydreaming versus partying—in order to represent this in a meaningful way. The shape of the design and its assessment do not hinge on an isomorphic mapping between system interpretation and actual events. The system could be wrong and still work as long as it is wrong in an interesting or useful way [ 2].
The black boxes of Flight 447 are also designed faithfully to track as much information as possible employing representation as reality methods to recreate events of the flight. The technology need not embody a representation as reality mindset, however. Data could be interpreted in a myriad of ways: conjecture, best guess, or even a declaration of what happened beyond a shadow of a doubt. The latter is what I’m hoping for, although the desire for certainty does not require a representation as reality mindset.
Skirting the Po’Mo Wonderland. A representation as response mindset accepts that there is reality. It is not an invitation to escape into a postmodern wonderland. There are causes and effects (sometimes less linear than we’d like) and seemingly objective accounts. Medical science, for example, can find the cause of a disease. Yet what is known is always a foil for the unknown. Diseases, for example, can evolve. Black boxes may faithfully track some information, yet unaccounted-for information might tell a completely different story. Saying that the story is incomplete, however, is
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