User Centered Systems Design: The Bridging Role of Justificatory Knowledge

In this paper we debate on the possibility of enhancing current Human Computer Interaction (HCI) methods by proposing a structured view on current approaches to the design of IT artifacts which is grounded on the Information Systems (IS) literature. We adopt a design research approach by focusing on the design problem of “designing user centered systems” and by applying a framework based on “The anatomy of a design theory” [1], to better understand the nature of current User Centered Design methods. Our discussion brings to both a deep understanding on the design problem domain (the design of User Centered Systems) and a conceptual contribution at the meta-level of the design research debate. Interaction designers can benefit from the proposed conceptualization by following a more holistic approach in the analysis of the context of use. As a consequence IT artifacts are expected to better fit with the dynamics of socio-technical systems at different levels (i.e. individual, group, organizational, institutional, etc.). The value of our proposal lies in the approach adopted for conducting the research and in the research outcome itself (design theory).