Designing Web Spaces for Social Inclusion Miles MenegonVictoria UniversityMelbourne, Australia

Research Questions:

Is it possible to design web spaces that encourage / foster social inclusion?

Can we establish a set of design principles for social inclusion on the web?

Social Inclusion:A dynamic, complex system of interrelated social forcesEnvironmental, economic and political factors fall outside of the scope of this projectWe focus on the development of interpersonal relationships in a hybrid community

The Web Space• Browser-based text chat system• No plugins required• Synchronous and asynchronous

communication• Member profile pages• Lo-fidelity prototype

The Process13 participants will use the web space

to communicate over a number of months

The space will undergo iterative design and functionality changes based on the feedback and usage patterns of participants

Design principles may or may not emerge in the process