Computer Interfaces to Organizations: Perspectives on Borg-Human Interaction Design

We use the term borg to refer to the complex organizations composed of people, machines, and processes with which users frequently interact using computer interfaces and websites. Unlike interfaces to pure machines, we contend that borg-human interaction (BHI) happens in a context combining the anthropomorphization of the interface, conflict with users, and dramatization of the interaction process. We believe this context requires designers to construct the human facet of the borg, a structure encompassing the borg’s personality, social behavior, and embodied actions; and the strategies to co-create dramatic narratives with the user. To design the human facet of a borg, different concepts and models are explored and discussed, borrowing ideas from psychology, sociology, and arts. Based on those foundations, we propose six design methodologies to complement traditional computer-human interface design techniques, including play-and-freeze enactment of conflicts and the use of giant puppets as interface prototypes.