2. The Problems of Design

HCI design is difficult, partly because of the dichotomy between the concerns of people and the directives provided by newly available technologies. There is a tension between what the devices and systems can do (objectivity), and how we experience using them and living with them (subjectively). A designer needs to know both what is technically possible, and how we think and act when our lives are mediated by technology. This chapter discusses a range of problems with the way design has been understood and is conducted. We see design as having the responsibility to ensure that people can fulfil themselves and act out their intentions in the world of things (including of technology). We raise several issues surrounding so-called human-centred design as a response to this concern, issues that we see as caused by three false dichotomies: (i) the ‘cognition-action dichotomy’, (ii) the ‘human-user dichotomy’, and (iii) the ‘virtual-physical dichotomy’. The chapter also reframes the categorization of customers, users, persons and humans, allowing us to focus on new aspects of people as humans in design work.