Interacting with Policy in a
Political World: Reflections from
the Voices from the Rwanda
Tribunal Project
Lisa P. Nathan

University of British Columbia | [e-mail]

Batya Friedman

University of Washington | [e-mail]

to be closely linked with social values. Pragmatic in structure, policies help HCI researchers and designers to identify and choose among alternative courses of action according to a specified set of goals or values.

[ 1] For more informa- tion, please see http:// www.tribunalvoices.org/.

[ 2] Access to Justice
Technology Principles;
http://atjweb.org/
frontpage/
September + October 2010

[ 3] European
Commission Justice
and Home Affairs–Data
Protection; http://
ec.europa.eu/jus-
tice_home/fsj/privacy/
index_en.htm/
interactions

“What does policy have to do with me?” That was the essence of the question Jonathan Lazar put on the table in his inaugural article for interactions. We agree with him that the answer is “a lot.” Our recent efforts to work with the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, officials from the Rwandan government, Rwandan NGOs, institutional review boards, and our own diverse project team continue to be an intense lesson in how different levels of policy exert influence on the design of interactive information systems [ 1].

Earlier articles have discussed large-scale public policies that can influence design decisions on a national or even international level (e.g., Web-accessibility legislation and voting-machine standards). In this article we consider the difficulties that arise when these large-scale policies are in tension with smaller-scale policies (e.g., institutional, organizational, or even project-based). We suspect these tensions are becoming more prevalent as HCI researchers and designers undertake increasingly complex projects in domains such as sustainability, health, government, and justice. The interactive systems that result from these endeavors can cross numerous boundaries among legislation, regulations, principles, standards, and norms (i.e., written and unwritten policies). These boundaries are often amorphous, and, more often than not, more than one level of policy is at play in any given set of design decisions. For purposes of this discussion, we conceptualize the term “policy” quite broadly and find it

At Least Five Levels of Policy

First, a quick look at five levels of policy that HCI researchers and designers may encounter in their work:

Domestic (government) policy. Instituted by national, state/provincial, and perhaps city governing bodies, these are the principles, rules, regulations, and laws that typically come to mind when considering public policy. The Access to Justice Technology Principles developed in the state of Washington provide one useful example [ 2]. Written to guide court administration, these principles articulate how courts can use information technology to give all Washingtonians fair access to the state’s justice system.

International policy. In some arenas, national governments have come together to create trea-ties, pacts, and even international laws that transcend national boundaries. For example, the data-protection principles and policies established by the European Commission govern the flow of personal information among the 27 EU member states and three EEA (European Economic Area) member countries (Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland) with third-party countries [ 3].

Organizational/institutional policy. Though not public policy per se, the organizations and insti-