#AcademicRunPlaylist - 11/24/24

It was a nice fall day in Boston, and luckily I was able to get out for a good run while listening to books for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was "Race After Technology" by Ruha Benjamin. I've heard many of Benjamin's talk and others on some of the critical themes covered in this book: how facially "neutral" designs can ossify and expand inequity, how attempts to reduce bias can in fact increase it, etc. I've even heard many of the examples in this book before: the shockingly racist systems embedded in film development technology, the replication of eugenics throughout the decades, and so on. But this book covers each topic with a rigor and depth that is so illuminating, so insightful, that it demands to be read if you're even peripherally connected or use technology (basically everyone).

Benjamin delivers a clarion call for thinking through the systems in which we embed technology, the need to question what is measured and optimized, and the importance of building or dismantling systems to bring about a more just world. I can't recommend this book highly enough https://www.ruhabenjamin.com/race-after-technology

Last was "The Design of Everyday Things" by Don Norman. This book provides an excellent, well-organized analysis of design methods that lead to pleasing and easy to use physical products. However this book is very much a product of its time (originally published in 1988 with a different title): it's extremely American/Western focused, pretty much ignores accessibility, and has little to say about digital interfaces. I did get a kick out of the section referencing expert systems for people to navigate terribly designed telephone interfaces, with strong echoes in people today working on using LLMs to, for example, help set up AWS servers.

People born after 1995 will probably have trouble following many of the product references as well, which is fairly important for understanding the approaches Norman advocates for. That being said, if you meet the age requirement this is a useful, thought-provoking book. Highly recommend https://ia902800.us.archive.org/3/items/thedesignofeverydaythingsbydonnorman/The%20Design%20of%20Everyday%20Things%20by%20Don%20Norman.pdf