Better Machines = ?
Over the past weeks I had begun to pay some attention to the conversation on user experience in web design. Not a lot of attention, just a bit. Then on Monday I experienced a wonderful intersection of ideas: first, I read Kottke's post on The Elements of User Experience, by Jesse James Garrett, which got me thinking on that topic again; second, I happened to read a small chapter in The Need For Roots by Simone Weil on the importance of reform in technical research and machinery, a change of potentially "greater social importance than all the measures arrayed under the title of Socialism."
Like Marx before her, Weil is searching for a way to lessen the extent of uprootedness (or alienation, to Marx) among the working class and emphasizes one of his arguments as the key:
"...If there is one conviction which stands out with irresistible force in the works of Marx, it is this one: that any change in the relationship between the classes must remain a pure illusion, if it be not accompanied by a transformation in technical processes, expressing itself in entirely new types of machinery."She goes on to lay out a plan for this to be accomplished. The focus of technical research needs to be distanced somewhat from the immediate goal of the capitalist (profit). The needs and experience of the worker should be taken into consideration in the research and development of the machine. When this is done, more intelligent tools will be created, enabling the worker instead of degrading him. Ultimately, a working class of qualified professionals would hopefully change the way that capitalism operates in some fundamental way without causing its destruction. I know, that last step is a doozy.
As these ideas spun around in my head, I began to wonder if perhaps progress was being made through this new medium and mode of development. It would seem that the study of user experience (if not focused entirely on increasing profit) as a factor in the design of websites and web applications is an unprecedented step in the right direction. Surely people have worked for some time to improve machines to make their users more efficient but the way in which it is now being studied and implemented seems unique, as if it were transcending mere ease of use. At the very least, I think that if this is an indication of the direction of research and "machine" development, we're on the right track. It would be nice to think that our advances in technology could actually reduce alienation and class separation. It is among the loftiest of ideas, but perhaps one worth considering.
Side note: I have added a section to the sidebar with links to what I'm currently reading. I thought this would be of interest for a few reasons: a) so you won't feel blindsided by an entry like this, b) to facilitate conversation on related topics, and c) to publicly display what is floating around my head. Currently it's a lot of baby information mixed with a bit of the above.