The Ubiquity Paradox: Further Thinking on the Concept of User Centeredness

摘要

This essay argues that user centeredness has become ubiquitous and is in danger of being rendered meaningless. To address this problem, a meditative essay theorizes user centeredness by examining a base term—use—as defined through the ancient concepts of techne and the four causes of making. It concludes that user-centered design should employ the causes in order to avoid inversions during the development of all things technological.