Semiotics, Compassion and Value-Centered
Design
This is an abstract for a lecture by Joseph Goguen at the Univeristy of
Reading, on 11 July 2003:
It is difficult to design computer-based systems that satisfy users;
failure is common, and even successful designs often overrun time and cost.
This motivates user-centered design methods. But users often don't know what
they need. This motivates ethnography and iterative design. However these
are slower, more expensive, and still can fail. We argue that values
are key to the promise of socially sensitive design. Algebraic semiotics
provides a rigorous notation and calculus for representation that supports
discovering values in discourse, especially narratives, while compassion
supports both better analysis and better ethics in design. Together they move
some way towards what we propose to call value-centered design. Some
case studies will also be discussed.
To semiotics page
To research projects index page
Maintained by Joseph Goguen
Last modified: Thu May 15 12:58:24 PDT 2003