A Double Helix Metaphor for Use and Usefulness in Informing Systems

Författare

Peter Bednar
Christine Welch

Redaktör

Hans-Erik Nissen
Peter Bednar
Christine Welch

Summary, in English

Following the theme of this monograph, this paper discusses a dialectic

we perceive to subsist between meaningful use and reflection upon use.

This dialectic between experiencing use and reflecting upon experiencing

use (or thinking, and thinking about thinking) may be considered in

the following way. Each of these elements is subject to change. As reflection

triggers change in use, and such change triggers further reflection,

a spiral comes about. Lived human experience, and reflection

upon that experience, seems to shape a double helix. In this paper, the

authors suggest a need for a hermeneutically-informed, phenomenological

approach when considering the complexities of informing systems,

viewed as human activity systems. It is suggested that human actors,

as users of informing systems, must own and control any inquiry

into use in relation to design for themselves, and that individual sensemaking processes are the key to successful interaction within the double

helix metaphor.

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