[Book] Guardrails

Guardrails
When we make decisions, our thinking is informed by societal norms, “guardrails” that guide our decisions, like the laws and rules that govern us. But what are good guardrails in today’s world of overwhelming information flows and increasingly powerful technologies, such as artificial intelligence? Based on the latest insights from the cognitive sciences, economics, and public policy, Guardrails offers a novel approach to shaping decisions by embracing human agency in its social context.

[Book] Avoiding the news

Avoiding The News
Drawing on interviews in Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States as well as extensive survey data, the book explains why and how so many people consume little or no news despite unprecedented abundance and ease of access.

[Book] The Experimentation Field Book

The Experimentation Field Book
This book is a hands-on manual for crafting and conducting useful experiments in real-life settings. It guides readers from any background or discipline through the fundamentals of identifying testable ideas, selecting an evidence base, prototyping, and testing, building users’ skill sets and channeling their creativity through an interactive, exercise-oriented format.

[Book] Death Glitch

Death Glitch
Technology scholar Tamara Kneese examines what happens to our digital belongings when we die, and argues that tech companies need to improve how they deal with death on their platforms for the sake of all our digital posterity.

Digital border governance: a human rights based approach

Digital border governance
This collaborative study, conducted by the UN Human Rights Office and the University of Essex, analyses the human rights implications of specific border technologies. It provides recommendations for States and stakeholders on how to take a human rights-based approach in ensuring the use of digital technologies at borders aligns with international human rights law and standards.

[Report] How green is household behaviour?

How green is household behaviour?
How Green is Household Behaviour? presents an overview of results from the 2022 OECD Survey on Environmental Policies and Individual Behaviour Change. The survey investigates household attitudes and behaviour with respect to energy, transport, waste and food systems.

UX needs a sense of urgency about AI

Image by MidJourney
"UX professionals must seize the AI career imperative or become irrelevant", writes Jakob Nielsen in his blog UX Tigers, particularly with current AI-driven tools being "far from user-friendly with their clunky, prompt-driven interfaces", and with adult (digital) literacy being what it is.

[Book] Think Like a UX Researcher

Book
In this newly revised Second Edition, you'll find six new essays that look at how UX research methods have changed in the last few years, why remote methods should not be the only tools you use, what to do about difficult test participants, how to improve your survey questions, how to identify user goals when you can’t directly observe users and how understanding your own epistemological bias will help you become a more persuasive UX researcher.

[Book] Imagining AI

Imagining AI
The book sheds new light on some of the most important themes in AI ethics, from the differences between Chinese and American visions of AI, to digital neo-colonialism. It is an essential work for anyone wishing to understand how different cultural contexts interplay with the most significant technology of our time.

[Book] Attention Span

Attention Span
While the concept of “flow” has previously been considered the ideal state of focus, Dr. Mark offers a new framework to help explain how our brains function in the digital world: kinetic attention. This book reveals how we can take control, not only to find more success in our careers, but also to find health and wellness in our everyday lives.

[Book] Interfaces and Us

Interfaces and Us
When society relies on computer models and their interfaces to explain and predict everything from love to geopolitical conflicts, our own behaviour and choices are artificially changed. Zachary Kaiser explores the harmful social consequences of this idea - balanced against speed and ease for the user - and how design practice and education can respond positively.

Toward best practices for human-centered machine learning

A new area called "human-centered machine learning" (HCML) promises to balance technological possibilities with human needs and values. However, there are no unifying guidelines on what "human-centered" means, nor how HCML research and practice should be conducted. This article by Stevie Chancellor in Communications of the ACM draws on the interdisciplinary history of human-centered thinking, HCI, AI, and science and technology studies to propose best practices for HCML.

To change system settings, click here

To change system settings, click here.
In this white paper (published on 15 February 2023) Demos Helsinki explores how we can rewrite the terms and conditions of our digital futures. Directed at policymakers, practitioners, researchers, industry leaders, and engaged citizens, the paper concludes with four sets of interventions that build a fair, sustainable, and joyful digital society.