Socio-Technical Systems: A Meta-Design Perspective

Meta-design of socio-technical systems is an approach which complies with the need of integrating two different types of structures and processes: technical systems which are engineered to provide anticipatable and reliable interactions between users and systems, and social systems which are contingent in their interactions and a subject of evolution. Meta-design is focused on objectives, techniques and processes to allow users to act as designers. In doing so, it does not provide fixed solutions but frameworks within which all stakeholders can contribute to the development of technical functionality and the evolution of the social side such as organizational change, knowledge construction, and collaborative learning. This paper combines the theoretical framework of meta-design and its underlying principles with the consideration of methodological aspects and practical cases. Five different principles are explored: (1) cultures of participation, (2) empowerment for adaptation and evol...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2011
• Where: IJSKD
• Authors: Gerhard Fischer, Thomas Herrmann
• Keywords: IJSKD 2011, Meta-design, Socio-technical Solutions, Socio-technical Systems