How Audiences and Technology Impact Design Practices: Human and Machine Collaboration in the Contemporary Context

This report will question an audience’s role and value in design practices. I draw on concepts about the dynamic connection between audiences’ knowledge, technology, and design, exploring the question that Rebernjak (2023) asks viewers in the lecture “Designing Users: How is technology shaping audiences? From Design Thinking to ‘Online Bubbles.’” I explore the intricacies and ramifications of audience influence by looking at user agency, the role of norms, and the potential repercussions of a statistical approach to creativity. I point out technology’s part in decision-making, mainly when comprehending and accommodating audience preferences, values, and beliefs. Through this investigation, I plan to provide some light on the influence of designers on audience participation in design.

Approaching Users

The concepts in the lecture (Rebernjak, 2023) revolve around and emphasise the user’s role in design by considering how audiences and users interact with items and vice versa. It describes “design thinking” as human-centred design, examines user agency and the impact and results of norms, criticises social engineering, and suggests potential repercussions of a statistical approach to creativity and human experience whose idea partly stems from modernist movements. In particular, it raises questions regarding designers’ and technology’s potential to shape how people act by creating items or surroundings. The resource challenges viewers to critically examine these questions of trustworthy agency as a designer’s responsibility by evaluating numerous historical cases in which a design dramatically influences how bodies move and act. In addition, Rebernjak points out the term Prosumer, a producer and consumer, and how this type of agency can also present difficulties depending on context. She also outlines the problematic origin that gave rise to ergonomics, which can both limit accessibility and broaden user diversity. Rebernjak emphasises that paradigms that can liberate also raise complex concerns, as is frequently the case with technology, and that we need to be mindful when assessing the results and evoking the exploration to approach users.

Intuitive and Impulsive Consumer Behaviour

In the book quoted by Rebernjak, ‘Beautiful Users: Designing for People’, Ellen Lupton makes a case for the practical and ethical issues that arise when designing for a norm or ‘average’ when it comes to the body and human habitats. Lupton examines universal design from a moderately commercial perspective, identifying its weaknesses to help fix problems and aiming for accessibility for a mass market and states that (users)

“...have been represented and addressed as ideal or normative types, as people of diverse sizes and abilities, as consumers to be observed, measured, and even manipulated, and as dynamic partners in the art of problem-solving.” (2014)

The ideas in the book underline the varied shape users and especially their intuitive behaviour take and points out the existing problems of product development being either the “short-term economic interests” of businesses or “expressive or theoretical intent of designers” without considering the audience as in-depth as possible. She writes that cheap and fast production and creative inclination have been the key decision-making factors in how an object or environment looks rather than what people need. Lupton also highlights the potential of variety when interacting with objects by demonstrating “Nine Ways to Use a Pitcher”, designed by Leon Ransmeier. Rebernjak also discusses this aspect by inquiring what defines a user, which she says one becomes when “an object invites an action”. Essentially, the user and object become one phenomenon that finds their existence as synergy. In the book, numerous examples of showcasing design reevaluations prompt designers to understand the responsibility in their decision-making and argue that this is a critical aspect of contemporary design.

Designers and stakeholders have been able to profit, stand out in the marketplace and expand by considering the audience’s preferences. Users’ desire for intuitive behaviour has influenced the design of objects in the past. In the late 1930s, Henry Dreyfuss designed the Model 302 telephone set, which was viewed as beautiful and innovative simultaneously because he hid mechanical parts with a smooth shell (Pulos, 1983). However, people who used the telephone set deemed the product impractical because the triangular shape on the top of the handle did not stay in place when held between head and shoulder when using the phone without hands. The first iteration did not possess the functional value users required. In 1949, Dreyfuss and Bell Labs revealed the Model 500 with a flat handle based on the average mouth and ear distance of over two thousand human faces (Lupton, 2014). Ten years later, in 1959, they released ‘The Princess’ with an effectively lighter handling, pleasing colours and an overall more petite frame to appeal to young women in the market who used the phone lying in bed. In this case, the lab did not take the spontaneous actions and impulsive inclinations of users into account, and even if the design was aesthetically pleasing and functioned well, it did not fulfil the contextual requirements of the user. By rationalising user data and investing resources in re-evaluating the design, the stakeholders could win a more significant effect in market service by utilising the audience’s feedback and helping refine a product or output to consumer needs. Simultaneously, other ethical questions arise from this type of ‘efficient’ or ‘good’ design regarding functionality and innovation, considering the effect is to remain competitive to drive profit.

Intent, Design and Effect

To fulfil a designer’s duty is to understand that the well-being of an audience is part of a good design. Typically, what we see as good design pairs “aesthetic quality with functional applicability”. Often, to maintain that functional aspect, a fundamental rule of design is to work that is goal-oriented and measurable goals. The speak is always of designers being problem-solvers; to solve a problem, one must aim to arrive at an appropriate conclusion. Without it, the problem is intangible, and we cannot define the objective. Therefore, the chance of missing it is more significant, which leads to inefficiency. Evidently, in the case of the Model 302 telephone, if Dreyfuss had not addressed the consumers’ concerns, a new model would have backfired because the impractical obstacle would have remained, and he would not have met user needs. The effect of the Model 500 design would not have been ‘good’ because the goal setting was not precise. Consequently, not only does the audience play a role in driving profit, but it substantially plays a role in decision-making for good design in the present day.

It is essential to differentiate the various parties’ intent from one another, the design itself, and its effects to understand the audience’s role in the designer’s perspective. No matter how well-designed, hyper-functional or aesthetic an object is, the intent or effect may be harmful. The goals of each party can range, yet a business’s intent is profit, a designer’s intent is part of a personal expression, and a user’s intent is well-being or pleasure, which is what Lupton (2014) mentions in her book. For instance, waste-prone electronics, disposable furniture, (addictive) user interfaces, landmines, weapons, cigarette packaging and misleading food packaging all have questionable overall outcomes and effects on humanity. Their impacts do not link with the object’s design quality but its effects. In an ideal world, ‘good’ design also means ethical, and user autonomy is a significant goal for ethical practice.

Ethical Implications of Audience Influence

There is a conflict between the audience’s need for exciting and addicting experiences and their long-term well-being, and designers have the power to address several of these issues when designing with an audience in mind. However, striking a balance between each party’s intent and objective (businesses, designers and the wants and desires of an audience) proves itself to be complicated. A notable demonstration of this is the development and design of social media platforms, e.g. Instagram or TikTok user interface, that consciously utilises “triggers and motivations” to understand user behaviour, a concept Fogg (2009) writes about in the paper “A Behavior Model for Persuasive Design”, similar to Eyal (2014) in “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products”. This facet emphasises that user agency does not always imply ethical consequences. It ties in with Rebernjak’s discussion on user agency that influences the functions of a product or design (or what I have referred to as ‘intentions’) within the interactions between people and their surroundings. The relationship between people and their environment reveals tricky dynamics affecting decision-making processes and highlights the need for a more sophisticated comprehension of the ethical implications. Therefore, it is essential to distinguish between intent, design, and effect among all engaged stakeholders to comprehend the factors and assess one’s involvement thoroughly. Another relevant regard is the algorithmic, apparent rational decision-making, radically rule-executing technological tools that we find today that prove Rebernjak’s points in shaping human experience through design with mere data.

Algorithmic Tools for Decision-Making

Audiences are a crucial element in ethical decision-making for commercial strategy and operations. Not only do they collectively create value through an opinion before solving a design problem, but they are a direct feedback source after the launch of a design, shaping the market demand in this way. Consumer insights and business analytics are examples of practices utilising data and algorithms of audience preferences, values and beliefs to ensure well-informed decisions surrounding the communication and product, avoid harm and identify threats and opportunities. As in the past, with Dreyfuss’s telephone set, the audience serves the purpose of reiterating and improving the design through an incremental process. Whether the intentions or effect serve economic growth or enhance people’s lives depends on the context, and in the case of the telephone set, both aspects go hand in hand. While an audience’s reaction, opinion, movements and intuitive behaviour is a strength for their potential autonomy, it also poses a weakness that allows manipulation and deception.

Algorithms and technological tools in machine learning can facilitate improved designs by basing decisions on data if humans and machines collaborate appropriately. Designers have a unique possibility and purpose to being in service of audiences through collective action with consumers. In order to prevent pricing algorithms from placing high fees on unaware clients to accept because of their lack of understanding, the solution is to implement price caps (Phillips, 2005). Establishing these boundaries falls primarily within the human overview, while systems cannot do so by simply looking at previous data. The problem involves determining who is in charge of setting those rules and boundaries and who are the people or organisations to do this. This question assumes a rhetorical position because the solution may fall within the jurisdiction of a professional function, often known as a designer.

By comprehending the contextual nature of decision-making, we can better understand the intricacies involved and the requirement to consider diverse views. In assessing the efficacy of various decision-making strategies, understanding how consumers engage with a product and if their usage is consistent with that objective becomes increasingly essential. Take the video game Dark Souls 3, for instance, which has hidden fight clubs that have spontaneously developed inside the game’s community. These fight clubs pose substantial obstacles for players and have emerged as an essential part of the game, enhancing its appeal and establishing a distinctive gaming culture. The product’s intended use and experience may change from what the designer originally intended. Player behaviours and community interactions can enhance the overall user experience and the longevity of a game by connecting to research and understanding of game design. In conclusion, Dark Souls 3 is an excellent example of the need for designers to be receptive to the fluidity of user participation and the possibility of unanticipated user-driven experiences. In order to develop products that connect with users and change with their changing requirements, it is critical to investigate the balance between design intent and user agency going ahead.

The Glimpse of Shift

The value that audiences provide goes well beyond purely financial factors. They can collectively enforce change and shift narratives. Audiences can have a significant impact by using their freedom, exercising their agency, and amplifying their voices by expressing their opinions. They gain a sense of group strength from their ability to decide together. It is crucial to remember that audiences can provide various benefits, including social effects, cultural reform, and fostering public dialogue and economic gain, which stands out as the most palpable and widely incentivised. This answer indicates a paradox in which the audience has a problem yet also is the solution. As a designer, quantifying human behaviour does not render art, design or experience less sensational but creates the risk of alienating its recipients.

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