Why is Google serving us that ad? Why is Facebook suddenly showing us an ex’s status updates? Why did Chase suddenly offer me a new mortgage rate–and how come it’s not lower?
These are the opaque decisions made for us all day, every day, by computer programs–algorithms that dictate the fate of so much of what we see. And now, the U.K. studio If has a concept proposing how we could look inside this software to understand why we’re seeing what we see.
Developed for the U.K. government’s open call to make its digital services more transparent, If presents several straightforward bits of user interface that can clarify esoteric, automated processes.
I’m not claiming this is cutting-edge design or anything. It’s links. Buttons. Lists. What’s radical has nothing to do with the interface but the intent of the interface, its willingness to bring the user behind the curtain at every step. The products of today do this a bit–Netflix tells you why it has recommended various movies, and Facebook has that “why am I seeing this ad” link you may have noticed. But there’s still a huge gap between what If has proposed and pretty much any existing platform. Be it social media or health insurance, no company’s software is nearly so self-revealing. And as we only have more and more machines making decisions on our behalf every day, that’s a trend that needs to change, lest the user become the used.