UvA, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG), Institute, Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR)
Award date: 11 April 2007
Source: UvA-DARE
Designing presence in environments where technology plays a critical role is critical. Particularly in the current times when social systems such as law, education, healthcare and business all face major challenges when it comes to guaranteed, safe, reliable and cheap services in which people communicate with and through technology.
The speed and scale of information collection and dissemination facilitated by technology today requires a redesign of basic concepts for our modern societies in terms of ownership, copyright, privacy, liability, responsibility and so on. The research question assumes that there is a phenomenon that we need to understand much better than we do now.
UvA, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG), Institute, Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR)
Award date: 11 April 2007
Source: UvA-DARE
This paper introduces the notion of witnessed presence arguing that the performative act of witnessing presence is fundamental to dynamics of negotiating trust and truth. As the agency of witnessed presence in mediated presence differs from natural presence orchestration between natural and mediated presences is needed. The YUTPA* framework, introduced in this paper, depicts 4 dimensions to define witnessed presence: time, place, action and relation. This framework also provides a context for design of trust in products and services, as illustrated for a number of illustrative scenarios.
YUTPA is acronym for "To be with You in Unity of Time, Place and Action",
Auteur: Caroline Nevejan.
Chapter by Nevejan and Brazier in 'Handbook of ethics, values and technological design' (2015)
[ABSTRACT]
This chapter elaborates on design for the value of presence. As digital technologies have made it possible for us to connect to each other at a speed and scale that is unprecedented, presence is acquiring many new stances. The distinctions between being there (in virtual worlds), being here (making the being there available here), and the merging realities of these two are essential to the notion of presence. Understanding the essence of presence is the focus of current presence research to which many disciplines contribute, including computer science, artificial intelligence, artistic research, social science, and neurobiology.
The definition of presence used in this chapter is “steering towards well-being and survival,” and this definition introduces a neurobiological perspective on presence fundamental to the approach on which this chapter focuses. This perspective recognizes the choices and trade-offs involved in presence design. Presence design is a meta-design, which creates the context for human experience to emerge. Presence as a value for design can be a design requirement, a factor of analysis, and a key value in a process of Design for Values.
This chapter discusses a number of analytical and design frameworks for constructing and deconstructing presence design. Acknowledging that presence is a fuzzy concept and that a variety of open issues can be identified, presence as a value for design is fundamental for human beings to accept responsibility in complex environments.
Nevejan, C., & Brazier, F. (2015). Design for the Value of presence. J. van den Hoven, PE Vermaas, I. Van de Poel Handbook of ethics, values, and technological design: Sources, theory, values and application domains, 403-430.
Authors: Caroline Nevejan & Frances Brazier
The website being-here.net was the foundation for Caroline Nevejan's research into witnessing. Forty four authors contributed to this study. Artists, academics, journalists, designers reflected upon their own work form the perspective of witnessing. As result the YUTPA framework was further developed. This YUTPA framework makes trade-offs for trust visible. YUTPA is the acronym for 'being with You in Unity of Time Place and Action. The framework works with the four dimensions of Time, Place, Relation and Action to understand how trade-offs for trust are made in merging on-and offline realities.In each dimensions 4 factors are identified that affect such trade-offs.
Trust is an important word in love, in friendship and in professional relationships. In newspapers, news programs, interviews and also in daily conversations between friends or colleagues it is often about trust. Agreements are also based on trust in trade and business. Trust is a force against abuse of power, indifference, arbitrariness, alienation and unkindness. It is a prerequisite for physical and mental health. Safety is tested with trust and it is therefore the basis for living together.
It is about how we are present together, about how we witness each other and act together. Trust influences social interactions and determines the atmosphere between participants, it is the glue that holds things together.
The basic and most essential form of trust is being physically with others, sharing time and place, and being in relationship with each other. When the world becomes uncertain, when we become more vulnerable and the systems around us are complex and not necessarily reliable, then we lose confidence. By reflecting together on how trust is or is not created, we can make these uncertainties more manageable.
In this essay, Caroline Nevejan writes about the YUTPA framework she developed, the ideas and developments surrounding this 'talking tool'. In five chapters she takes a closer look at the major changes in our society, 'being present' and the action perspective of the person and the system, trade-offs of trust, the YUTPA framework and the dynamics between vulnerability and reliability.
We want to better understand and strengthen the trust between Amsterdam residents and the municipality, and between civil servants themselves.
Trust between citizens and government is under pressure. We are working on trust in several places in the municipal organization. Trust is a difficult and complex subject, and at the same time crucial for how Amsterdam residents relate to the municipality and vice versa. That is why it is important to gain more insight into the different factors that influence the decision that people make - sometimes unconsciously and often in a split second - to trust something or someone. We see trust as the result of a trade-off between perceived vulnerability and perceived reliability. How do you experience your own vulnerability and the reliability of the world around you? If reliability is high, you can be vulnerable. If your vulnerability is great, you have high demands on reliability.
The Digitalization and Innovation department, together with future users, develops tools that help reflect on the interaction between civil servants and Amsterdam residents, and between civil servants themselves. We do this on the basis of the Yutpa framework (literal word for: 'To be with You in Unity of Time, Place and Action') developed by Prof. Dr. Caroline Nevejan. The 16 factors within Yutpa influence how people experience their own vulnerability and the reliability of their environment. By 'coloring' the framework in a structured way, you discover 'design space' where factors have not yet been taken into account. You can also complete the framework from different perspectives. If you superimpose those perspectives, you see the differences.