Representations as Mediators in the Design Discourse 

The research, so far, has conceived of representations either as neutral intermediaries conveying information from one party to another at different stages of design or as political instruments intended for emancipating users or, practically speaking, augmenting users' possibilities to influence design. To the best of my knowledge, representations as political mediators used for furthering interests in rhetorical language games or power struggles have been studied very little or not at all. My research examines the use of representations as political mediators in the design discourse. This is a traditional problem area of information systems design but has been studied here from a power-political and interactional point of view.

 

The research contribution will be a theoretical framework for understanding design representations as mediators in the design discourse from different perspectives which are as follows: 1) representations as classifications, 2) representations having politics in exercises of power, 3) representations in hegemonic struggles in terms of how they are used in action by actors, 4) representations in hegemonic struggles in which organizational structures are also emphasized, and 5) representations as instruments deriving from certain organizational or institutional discourses.

Critical discourse studies, participation and politics (participatory design), representations, classifications