Existentialist HCI

HCI has borrowed some concepts from existential phenomenology, in particular Dreyfus’s interpretation of Heidegger’s philosophy. Not all concepts have been widely discussed, and it is urgently important to investigate further consequences of existential phenomenology on research and design of technology. ”Presence-at-hand” and ”readiness-at-hand” are two concepts that have been accomodated into the HCI terminology. However, other implications of existential phenomenology do not lend themselves so easily into technological design. The reason is that technology itself stands under serious criticism. If we take phenomenology seriously, we must also discuss its critique of technology. I argue that we must follow through on the implications thereof, even to the point of making technology more marginal in our society.