The Absent Peer – Non-users in Social Interaction Design
This research aims to provide a framework for the consideration of non-users in the context of social interaction design (SxD), in particular for the design of social network sites (SNSs).
- Type
- Academic research
- Year
- 2010
- Status
- completed
- License
- Creative Commons BY-NC-ND
- Client
- Aalto University, Media Lab Helsinki
About this project
The Absent Peer – Non-users in Social Interaction Design
This research aims to provide a framework for the consideration of non-users in the context of social interaction design (SxD), in particular for the design of social network sites (SNSs). The theory of “The Absent Peer” consists of two core concepts, presenting the network aspect and the sociality aspect how non-use influences SNS concepts. Herein, the focus of the work is on the discovery of the impact of non-use rather than on its reasons. Building on the insights from the study, this report presents the conceptual considerations for the creation of valuable SNS concepts that acknowledge non-use as a permanent and complex phenomenon of social reality. The work is based on the sociological perspective of symbolic interactionism. Social interaction design is presented as a practice within the discipline of interaction design, with its goals defined through a discussion on user value and worth-centred design.
Designing for social interaction - value and experience beyond the interface
Man-machine interfaces vs. online human-human interaction Traditional interaction design thinking is under pressure in the case of social network services because we no longer are facing situations where a user fulfills a task on a computer (the roots of HCI […]
Why research on non-users is relevant in B2C business
On February 8, I was invited by the digital agency Valve to speak at the event “600Minutes BtoC Marketing”. It was an interesting exercise to analyse and process the outcome of my research on “The Absent Peer - Non-users in Social […]
Related
Technology non-use has been my core research interest for far over a decade. Approaching technology and design from a social scientist background, designing for “users”, while the prevalent approach to design, has always irked me in that this limits the impact and accessibility of our tools, services or artefacts.