Ergonomic software and software engineers
Several steps to improve the situation by rethinking the software designer's own assumptions and values as well as by orienting teaching and research towards user support for work situations are proposed.
Abstract
Starting from the observation that truly ergonomic software is still rare, the author tries to make conscious some important but widely unconsidered reasons for this situation. The notion of user-friendliness, implicitly applied perspectives on system design and use, the conception of informatics as a science, models of humans as well as power relations between software engineers and users are identified and discussed as factors influencing the work of software engineers. Several steps to improve the situation by rethinking the software designer's own assumptions and values as well as by orienting teaching and research towards user support for work situations are proposed.<<ETX>>