Tensions between ‘Design as Use’, Service Design and ICT-centric Services

The question, which this paper examines as a very early and tentative question, is whether the process model for the relationship between users and designers, presented by Bredies (2014), can be applied to understand the relationship between users and designers of ICT- and telecommunication infrastructure standards, e.g. 5G. Traditionally, user-centered design (UCD) approaches are being applied by researchers in this field e.g. through user scenarios, but is UCD the most precise category for the design processes actually taking place? Through the analysis of a scenario-based research for infrastructure requirements for wireless services in year 2020, the user scenarios method is being positioned on a continuum between ‘observation-driven’ (phenomenological approach) and ‘idea-driven’ (agenda-driven) constructions of users. Secondly, descriptions of respectively participatory design, non-intentional design and critical design are being examined for their potential contribution to an understanding of design processes taking place in ICT and telecom infrastructure development projects.