Ruminations on our relationship with technology
“…technology education, something quite different from instruction in using computers to process information …”
– Neil Postman, The End of Education, p 43.
Professional topics look at something we often take for granted. We couldn’t perform our jobs without technology. Since technologies impact how we work and interact, workplaces can benefit not just from technology training (knowing how to use technology). They also can benefit from technology education (understanding how media and machines influence the way we work and communicate).
Given all the ways technologies influence our lives, many professionals have asked: What technology works best for what purpose? In other words (as educator Neil Postman asked), for what problem is the technology a solution? Professions that can help shed light on this question include technical communication, user experience, and business technology. To explore ideas in these professional topics, select any of articles below.
When to heed usability-flexibility tradeoffs I recently moved from the Twin Cities to Philadelphia, and luckily, I bought myself a GPS device beforehand. I’m glad I did, because it prevented me from getting lost while traveling and driving around the East Coast. Sure, I could just use a GPS app on a smartphone for the … Read more
The ethics of personalization Recently, I had the opportunity to write for Vanguard UX, the user experience area of The Vanguard Group. The goal of Vanguard UX is to provide thought leadership on various topics in the user experience profession. In this case, I decided to focus on a contentious topic in ethical design: the … Read more
Is cryptocurrency speculation one of the unintended consequences of blockchain technology? Before getting into this topic, let’s state one caveat right away. We’re not financial analysts who specialize in blockchain or cryptocurrency. So who are we to opine on this matter? We’re approaching it not from a financial analysis background but from perspectives that explore … Read more
When is it ethical for technologies to collect and use personal information? Summary: Is it ethical for websites, apps, or other technologies to collect and use personal information? On one hand, there’s no shortage of examples about how this practice can appear unscrupulous. For instance, social media sites and apps may harvest our private data … Read more
What technical communicators do (and what they don’t do) Quite often, I find that technical communication is a misunderstood profession. For some reason, people might think it means writing long, complicated documents about technology or highly technical knowledge. But that’s precisely what technical communicators do NOT do. Quite the opposite. In fact, technical communicators, such … Read more
How to use (or abuse) Fitts’ law with website designs Summary: Fitts’ law sounds like an obscure concept from the user experience profession (designing websites for ease of use). But it’s a law we encounter practically every time we use the web. For example, it’s often used (and sometimes abused) when we see and select … Read more
User-friendly technology vs. the bed of procrustes In ancient Greek mythology, there was a famous, if not infamous, figure by the name of Procrustes. He was a criminal who tortured people by forcing them to fit into an uncomfortable iron bed that he designed. If his victims were too short for the bed, he’d stretch … Read more
Social media’s twofold problem: manipulative algorithms and addictive design After posting a five-part article on social media reform, as well as publishing a couple of editorials on this topic (one highlighting the problem with social media, the other looking at solutions to this problem), I thought it would be helpful to sum up these thoughts. … Read more
Addictive design vs. ethical design in social media Summary: When applying professional ethics to technology design (including ethical design in social media), there’s no such thing as a ‘neutral’ design. Designers have to make design choices. And those design choices will influence people’s decisions, including how they use the technology. Therefore, designers might want to … Read more