The future of democracy depends on all of us, in the form of committed citizens. I would like to make my contribution to this and see the great potential of design & technology in these issues.
As part of my bachelor's thesis, I was already able to explore the potential of activism to defend democratic values in the digital space. In doing so, I was only able to address the importance of democratic structures and the opportunities that also exist to strengthen democracies through design and technology to a limited extent. Although I was able to find a possible implementation to enter into stimulating dialogs for more participation, I believe that this is only one possibility of much more far-reaching implementations.
The methodology of transformation design in particular can produce important future-oriented positions that can be used to strengthen fundamental democratic values. Critical questioning, making opaque system structures visible and creating new connections are just some of the areas that (transformation) design can use and already improve in this problem area.
In my opinion, combining design with current and future-proof technologies creates the greatest possible potential for our society. In principle, there is no lack of willingness on the part of citizens to share their opinions and views, which is particularly evident in the shift of political issues to social media. What is currently lacking is a suitable tool or a suitable space. Autocracies in particular are afraid of such a dialog-capable, networkable space, as evidenced by the censorship of the internet or physical assembly facilities.
However, technological developments are not automatically conducive to democracy. In autocratic China, for example, machine learning contributes to people being classified in a social credit score using surveillance cameras and data analysis and, in the mildest case, losing privileges. Social media can also be seen as ambivalent, as although individuals can express themselves freely, this also provides a platform for anti-democratic topics. It is therefore all the more important to address the possibilities of technical developments in relation to the promotion of democracy now and to highlight possible dangers and structures of abuse.
I would like to introduce another aspect that plays a particularly important role in the field of design and is sometimes underestimated in other disciplines: the aesthetic experience. In my past work, it has always been particularly important to me to focus on people as soon as technical implementations are used. Human senses in particular are still relatively unexplored and play a subordinate role in many technical developments.
Nevertheless, I think it is important to involve these senses in different ways, because this can reduce the complexity of technical systems, for example, by going back to the most basic human being. Aesthetics can also make an important contribution to what inspires people. I think it is useful to link aesthetic considerations with the theories of the philosopher Walter Benjamin, including his work on the aura.
He sees the destruction of such an aura through the trivialized reproduction of things by technology, but the fascination of technical developments is great, which is why I think there can also be an aura in what is reproduced, in the technical. I think these considerations are also important in relation to ideas of democracy, because they are strongly linked to people's perceptions.
Especially when considering a new type of digital space, it is crucial to think about how such a space can be designed to have a positive impact on its users.
This approach can trigger various forms of implementation in concrete elaboration, which I would like to explore further in the Master Design & Computation. One possibility would certainly be to explore the already mentioned question of space. Public spaces are an expression of democracy that can take place regardless of location, because they depend on people and what they make of them.
For my project within my Master's degree, I would like to work in an explorative and research-based way, but at the same time I would also like to drive forward the further development of my own work processes in a structured and controlled manner.
For my project within my Master's degree, I would like to work in an explorative and research-based way, but at the same time I would also like to drive forward the further development of my own work processes in a structured and controlled manner.
How could an inclusive, emancipatory digital space work? What could a VR protest look like? Will there ever be demonstrations in the metaverse? What could a variable, digital activism system look like? In which areas can design & technology support democracies?
