Technology × Social Interaction
(× = by / of / in / for / against / beyond …)
How do modern information technologies shape the social world?
How could good design cultivate pro-social and pro-environmental action?
What might more socially and environmentally sustainable digital futures look like?
Research vision
We investigate the cross-section of design and information technology for pro-social and pro-environmental ends.
We’re interested in the social, environmental and cultural aspects of information systems, artificial intelligence and other modern applications of information technology. As technological development and the socio-material world are inherently intertwined, we must understand how IT shapes, mediates, and sets conditions for various forms of social interaction, digital consumption and decision-making. Building on the broad fields of design, social sciences and human-computer interaction, we seek to produce alternative imaginaries of futures that are more sustainable both for individual users, human cultures and the environment.
Example topics
Mediated communication & digital media: How are interactions on digital platforms influenced by user-interface design? How is the media sector influenced by AI-enabled forms of news consumption? Can UI design support the well-being of individual users in the era of the attention economy?
Integration & trust: How can IT best support the cultural integration of migrants? How might IT support trust-building across individuals, communities, and cultural chasms?
Design & sustainability: How might digital services support the detrimental build-up of excess or drive consumerism? How could designers and developers better recognise and mitigate the material repercussions of digital services?
AI & professional life: What is the role of IT in modern recruitment and HR management in organisations? How could AI help identify suitable collaborators, support recruitment, find experts, and form teams? How does generative AI shape labour in creative fields?
Approaches
We conduct cross-disciplinary research that combines critical and creative thinking:
Research through critical, speculative and participatory design: How to constructively challenge conventions in user interface design and digital service design? How to produce new knowledge through design praxis?
Foregrounding values, sustainability and responsibility: How to create more socially and environmentally sustainable digital solutions, also mindful of ethical considerations?
Our research builds on several cross-disciplinary research traditions, including Human-Computer Interaction, Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, Sociotechnical Systems, Sustainability Science, IT Ethics, and Information Systems research.
Background
Contact and group lead: thomas.olsson@tuni.fi
TSI is now part of the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences and the TAUCHI research center.
The group was originally established at the former Tampere University of Technology in ~2015. In 2017–2019, it was part of the New Social Research profiling program at the former University of Tampere.
As for education, our research contributes to several Master’s degree programmes, including specialisations in Human-Technology Interaction and Sustainable Digital Life, the upcoming specialisations in Accessibility and Sustainability in Digital Services, Gamification, and eSports, as well as the doctoral program of Humans and Technologies.