The Process Is Dehumanizing, Not the Technology

Since Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times, the popular thinking has been that technology dehumanizes us. I disagree with this notion. Before technology, tyrants, barbarians, and warriors dehumanized their victims with fists and stones. It doesn't require sophisticated tools to dehumanize your fellow human a glance or a kick does it as well. It is not technology that is dehumanizing. It is the technologists, or rather the processes that technologists use, that create dehumanizing products.

Of course, the more powerful the technology, the more damage a bad process can inflict. Conversely, designed properly, that same technology can be a great gift to humanity. High technology can go either way. It's the people who administer it who dictate the effect.

Interactive systems do not have to be dehumanizing, but for this to occur, we have to revamp our development methodology so that the humans who ultimately use them are the primary focus. The single most important process change we can make is to design our interactive products completely before any programming begins. The second most important change is to turn the responsibility for design over to trained interaction designers. In the next few chapters, I will show what can be accomplished by taking these steps.