A User-Centered Lens into Digital Excess : Exploring the Superfluity and Environmental Burden of the Digital World

Thomas Olsson, Olli Pyyhtinen, Anna Rantasila, Salla-Maaria Laaksonen, Minna Vigren, Johanna Ylipulli, Nitin Sawhney

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference article in proceedingsProfessional

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Abstract

This article seeks to take a new view on the environmental burden of information and communication technology through the concept of digital excess. Our notion of digital excess draws from Georges Batailleʼs
argument that the main problem of any economy is excess rather than scarcity. We take a user-centric lens into this concept and discuss various aspects of our digital lives that could be perceived not to carry meaningful value but appear as wasteful and superAluous, while also harming individuals, society, or the planet. We provide examples from digital media services where digital excess may be regarded as, for example, accumulation of self-created content with redundant copies or inattentive consumption of highbandwidth streaming services. In consonance with related work in the Sustainable Human-Computer Interaction community, we encourage follow-up empirical investigations of the practical manifestations of this concept, which could help to further understand, problematize, and possibly also mitigate the growing energy use of ICT. For the design of digital services, focusing on digital excess offers a lens through which designers could simultaneously optimize multiple quality criteria that conventionally require trade-offs (e.g., environmental
sustainability vs. lively user experience vs. economic viability).
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationLIMITS'23, June 2023, Everywhere All at Once
PublisherACM
Pages1-4
Number of pages4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 Jun 2023
MoE publication typeD3 Professional conference proceedings
EventWorkshop on Computing within Limits - Virtual, Online
Duration: 14 Jun 202315 Jun 2023

Workshop

WorkshopWorkshop on Computing within Limits
CityVirtual, Online
Period14/06/202315/06/2023

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