Reflections on norm-critical design efforts in online youth counselling

Abstract

We explore social norms embedded in interaction design, how different identity roles are made relevant during a specific design project and how norm-critical efforts are made by different actors during this design process. We have studied the development of the Swedish National Youth Counselling site to illustrate how interaction design may construct meaning, norms and values in design. We present an ethnographic study, the development of the Love Animation. Examples are shown in which interaction design unintentionally discourages the purpose of the intended message which suggests that there is a need for further understanding of how the content and the interaction design relates to each other. Using Science and Technology theories, the research join the emergent critical tradition in HCI and a critical perspective on technology as a co-constructing agent is applied.