Design-oriented Sociology

Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,2001).Since the 1970s the use of computationaltechnologies has been widely adapted toenhance human work processes and socialinteractions. The role of new technologies issalient, in particular, in communication. Tele-phones, videophones, computerized expert sys-temsandInternet applications,such asInternetconferences, chat rooms and multi-userdomains, are all technologies for communica-tion. These technologies may mediate andcreate new types of communication betweenand among persons, or the technologies maythemselves interact with users (persons). Thesetechnologically enhanced forms of social inter-action and communication also present a newchallenge to social and human studies.Further-more, they open up the question of theapplicability of social and human studies tothe development and design of these technolo-gies. Recently, a small but not insigni” cantnumberofstudies has appearedinthisareathatcan be labelled design-oriented sociology.Design-oriented sociology, if there is as yetsuch a thing, is a new arrival.It differs from theold sociology of technology (e.g. Braverman1974), which was largely based on technologi-cal determinism and on a holistic critique oftechnology (increased repression of labour,diminishing work quali” cations, mass unem-ployment due to automation, etc.).Design-oriented sociology belongs to thenew sociology of technology that addressescommunicative affordances of technologies(Dourish 2001; Hutchby 2001); that is, thepossibilities they offer for action. The study ofaffordances allows both critical and af” rmativeobservations; it may open up both the potentialand the limitations of technology as it focuseson the concrete usages of technology. Itaddresses limitations when a given technologyimpairs a set of actions in a speci” c context (seeHeath & Luff 2000; e.g. the computerization ofmedical records or the implantation of portablecomputer records in building sites) or short-comings when technology fails to satisfy custo-mers’ needs. However, the evaluation oftechnology is not the main aim, but rather thereverse engineering of the social usage andmeaning of technology in action (Luff et al.2000). In any case, through its contribution, itprovides resources for or participates in thedesign processes in which the relationshipbetween human parties and technology isaddressed

Social science · Sociology · Information Systems Theories and Implementation · Innovative Human-Technology Interaction · Usability and User Interface Design

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  Open Access•Derek A Norman•interactions•1999

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