Understanding and Designing around Users' Interaction with Hidden Algorithms in Sociotechnical Systems
Motahhare Eslami · 2017
While today many online platforms employ complex algorithms to curate content, these algorithms are rarely highlighted in interfaces, preventing users from understanding these algorithms' operation or even existence. Here, we study how knowledgeable users are about these algorithms, showing that providing insight to users about an algorithm's existence or functionality through design facilitates rapid processing of the underlying algorithm models and increases users' engagement with the system. We also study algorithmic systems that might introduce bias to users' online experience to gain insight into users' behavior around biased algorithms. We will leverage these insights to build an algorithm-aware design that shapes a more informed interaction between users and algorithmic systems.