Antagonisms in the discourse on user experience design in platform companies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22398/2525-2828.926116-130Keywords:
User experience design, Professional practice, Platform companies, Digital platformAbstract
This article investigates the complex role of design in the development of digital interfaces within platform companies, considering the influences of late capitalism and discourses associated with UX Design practices. Through interviews with 18 designers working in platform companies, we identified two predominant attitudes in professional practice: the Idealistic Attitude, focused on user well-being, and the Pragmatic Attitude, aligned with the capitalist system. The discussion emphasizes the various contradictions between the pro-user discourse and practices that aim to meet the commercial needs of companies. We observed the impacts of design from two perspectives: the discourse of positive impact on users’ lives and validation through commercial results. There is also a notable tension between the proclaimed purposes of designers and the reality of gains for users, revealing the concept of “purpose” as a rhetorical strategy for companies to manage both their reputation and the work of their contractors. Finally, attention is drawn to the intrinsic incoherence in the practice of design within platform companies, and questions are raised about the position of design as an agent of social transformation in the face of the dualities of objectives it attempts to address.
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