Analytical Study of Script theory in the Process of Inducing Values and Norms Through Design of Artifacts

From the perspective of actor-network theory, the world is a system of actors in which artifacts, like humans, have a degree of agency in relation to other actors. The agency of artifacts is the result of the intentions of their creators or designers. These intentions are inscribed in artifacts by action programs called “scripts”. Present study is of descriptive-analytic type and its purpose is to describe and assess the role of scripts in the designer-product-user relationship in order to understand how social norms are induced by artifacts. In terms of purpose, this research is a fundamental-theoretical study with qualitative approach in which library method was applied for data gathering and then analyzed in a descriptive manner.Mediation of action by artifacts can be explained by the concept of "script". Scripts are very important in the world of Design because the process of using design products (regardless of their degree of objectivity and physical properties) depends on them. To create a good understanding of the concept of the script, the actor-network theory and its sub-concepts form the necessary and desirable foundation. Actor-network theory is often referred to with equal treatment of human and non-human actors, and assumes that all entities in a network can and should be described in the same terms. In this approach, it is assumed that individuals (human factors) objects and spaces (non-human factors) participate in the context of multiplication and also that this multiplicity has effects on the reproduction of human and non-human factors. According to the actor-network theory, social life cannot be reduced to purely human or non-human factors, and those sociological theories that seek to provide explanatory models based on one of the human or non-human factors are in fact reductionist. According to this theory “actant” is anything that has an effect on the world and changes it. The network allows actants to determine their nature, intention, and action. In other words, the network forms an actant and transforms it into an “actor”. The actor is an element that changes the space around it to make other elements dependent on it and to translate their will into its own language.This study makes an attempt to answer a particular question: How can we explain the induction of social norms and values from the design perspective? In this regard, the concept of mediation must first be introduced. An intermediary is something that transmits a meaning or force without conversion (to something else) but a mediator changes, translates, distorts, or modifies the meaning or element it carries. Latour argues that when technology mediates, it includes the “translation” of an "action plan". Translation is the process by which the identity of actors, the possibility of interaction, and the scope of action are negotiated and determined. Scripts embedded in artifacts translate designers' intentions based on the goals and needs of users.To design a product, the designer assumes the capabilities and possibilities for specific users and, accordingly, designs the product-user interaction. Therefore, from this point of view, any correspondence between intention and interpretation must be attributed to the effect of mediator artifacts. In order to achieve an efficient and effective relationship between the designer's intentions and the user's interpretations of these intentions, and as a result of matching the features of the product with the user's expectations and needs, different user characteristics and the context of use of the product must be considered in the design process. These include: user personal characteristics, user capabilities, user knowledge of the artifact, and user experience of previous interaction with exposure to the artifact [or similar artifacts], and physical-biological characteristics of the context of use.Norms are patterns that are accepted in interaction with others and can control individual and group behaviors in specific situations. The norm, while having a descriptive dimension, has within it a concept of prescription and has an attitude towards "what should be" and not "what is" and from this perspective has an instructional approach. This is the normative dimension that makes it a good context to apply scripts in Design.Based on the culture, beliefs and social laws of the time, artifacts can be found that certain types of norms (as well as values) are inscribed in them. In the fourth section, in order to understand how these concepts were manifested in the design of Iranian artifacts, three artifacts that contained scripts to induce a certain norm, value or action have been studied. Industrial design in its modern and academic sense and as a position in the cycle of industrial system and mass production has little history in Iran. In order to identify products that inspire a certain type of norms and values based on the cultural characteristics and social characteristics of Iranians, the scope of sampling should be extended to the field of traditional artifacts. To this end, the statistical population of the present study is artifacts that have been produced in Iran based on the individual/social needs of the Iranian people during the last one hundred and fifty years (modern era) which induce not just a specific behavior but a specific individual-social norm or value. According to the purpose of this section, which includes a descriptive analysis of the concept of script in Iranian artifacts, items were selected that are known to the Iranian public and are rooted in their specific life style and cultural characteristics.An interesting example of these artifacts can be found in one of the oldest sport rituals in the world, namely the ancient Iranian sport and its “Zurkhaneh” (The place where this sport is done) doors. These buildings had a short door that people should bend to enter. Two reasons have found accordingly: eliminating the arrogance related behaviors of the athletes and humbleness and respect for sports, athletes and people who are present in Zurkhaneh. Scripts interact with artifact users themselves, not as passive messages or clues from the designer or creator, but as active actors themselves.In the social structure of Iran, especially after Islam and according to Islamic laws and rules, norms were formed for relations between men and women, which impose some restrictions on the social relations between men and women. If someone wanted to knock on the door of a house, he/she had to inform the residents in advance whether he/she was a woman or a man. The task of informing was the responsibility of the “Koobeh”. These artifacts were metal objects (usually made of iron) that can be said to be the ancestors of modern door bells, and their function is to inform the householder about the presence of a person behind the door. There are two kinds of Koobeh: “Darkoo” for men and “Aalke: for women. Here, too, the mediation of action by artifacts can be seen: informing about the person behind the door. This mediation has a clearly visible translation of action in itself; the act of using "Darkoo" translates to "there is a man behind the door".According to traditional customs and beliefs during the Qajar period in Iran, the faces of women should also be hidden from the view of non-Mahrams, and women used white veils on their Chadors in accordance with this belief. These veils were a white cloth that had a mesh texture in the place of eyes, allowing women to see their way. The phrase "see without being seen" is clearly present in this artifact and has made the conditions of use available to users accordingly.Scripts carry the designer's intentions regarding the desired product, user, and context, and therefore affect product-user-context interaction. Accordingly, their capacity can be used to induce social norms and even moral values. The use of prescriptive capabilities of artifacts is not limited to the modern era, and in different eras many artifacts can be found that prescribe certain types of behaviors and interactions between user and product. Most of these prescriptions provided only a specific type of action based on the characteristics of the artifact and the abilities of the target users, and a small number of them had a value or normative load. In this regard, four examples of these artifacts that had a value or normative load in their prescription for users were introduced and the manner of inducing the desired norm in each was investigated. The capabilities of the script along with its related concepts indicate the possibility of explaining the behavioral orientation of users in interaction with different products and services. The results of this study confirm the existence of scripts with the aim of inducing social norms and values in the studied artifacts. Scripts inscribed in artifacts can be analyzed as an objective aspect of the beliefs, principles and laws that govern human society to understand them as accurately as possible.