Plenary: Technological Humanism and Values-Driven Design

Brenda Laurel
Founder and Vice President, Design
Purple Moon
http://www.purple-moon.com/

The discipline of interface design is a shrinking subset of the domain of human-computer interaction. Despite our best efforts, HCI is traditionally understood as the art of slapping a friendly front-end on a functional fait accompli. Our role as advocates for "users" has been expressed in the details of the interface. But the growing pervasiveness of computers in human lives requires us to extend the scope of our advocacy; to express our values in the broader dimensions of form, structure and purpose.

In the Enlightenment, the philosophy of Humanism asserted that humans were innately improvable through their own efforts. Blind progress is humanism's evil twin. As our technologies become more profoundly formative of our future, we steal a growing portion of responsibility for our destiny from nature. Our ability to rely on nature to assert balance and wholeness appears to decline in direct proportion to the technological strides we take.

We cannot simply depend upon "human nature" or "family values" or even "the free market" to insure that the instrumentalities we develop will actually serve humanity or any individual human. If we are to advocate for humans in our technological world, how must our discipline grow? How can we do values-driven work while remaining closely attuned to actual human lives, needs and desires? The HCI community has the opportunity - and the responsibility - to make changes at the level of popular culture which will have a profound effect on the role of technology and the quality of human life.

Brenda Laurel is a 20-year entertainment software industry veteran who masterminded the four-year gender, play and technology research initiative that led to Purple Moon's creation. As Purple Moon Vice President, Design, Laurel drives the product's conceptual and creative direction toward the company mission to provide delightful and inspiring entertainment to girls ages 8-12. Laurel co-founded Purple Moon after serving as a member of the research staff at Interval Research Corporation, Purple Moon's parent company. Prior to Purple Moon, Laurel's career spanned renowned work in virtual reality, human-computer interface design and product development for companies such as Apple Computer, Atari, Activision, Fujitsu Laboratories, Lucasfilm Games, Sony Pictures and Paramount New Media.

Laurel began her career in 1977 as a computer game designer and programmer at CyberVision. She holds a B.A. in Communication and an M.F.A. and Ph.D. in theatre. She is editor of The Art of Human Computer Interface Design (1990) and author of Computers as Theatre (1991).