Robert Collins is researching ways of Designing for Contestable Systems.
This project is about the challenges involved in making it possible for people to contextualise and negotiate a data-driven system’s response to users’ actions (“response-ability”) in and through use. In this project we explore what features, mechanisms and techniques need to be designed and implemented in the front-end for users to understand, contest and possibly repair inappropriate actions by algorithmic decision systems.
Taking inspirations from his own background in art, design, repair and maintenance, Robert is exploring new forms of design involving shared responsibilities, the instincts of the repairer, the maintainer and the fixer, and community-based initiatives to imagine an agonistic design space for all stakeholders involved in our entanglements with technology.