Technological mediation analysis on Constructive Design Research: A case study of trust

1 Abstract Undoubtedly, new technological artifacts, systems, and platforms can have a major impact on the social context of any community. In his book Bowling Alone, Putnam points out how technology has fueled individualization and ultimately the erosion of the American community(Putnam, 2000). My research is interested in trust as a specific factor essential for navigating social life(Luhmann, 1973), which is also said to be affected by the adoption of various technologies (Ashmore & Restrepo-Forero, 2013; Brennan, 2021; Danaher & Sætra, 2022). Furthermore, my research is contextualized in Colombia, the country with the second lowest level of interpersonal trust in the world (Inglehart, et al., 2020). Here, protracted armed conflict (Comisión de la Verdad, 2022) and high rates of poverty and inequality (World Bank Group, 2022) have damaged the social fabric, particularly the value of trust. My research seeks to understand how socio-technical designs have interacted with trust in this context to propose a methodological design framework for social development that responds to trust needs. Montero assert that design plays a fundamental role not only in defining what the world is, but also in suggesting what it should be (2020, p. 110). Here, I disagree with the deterministic idea that designers are entirely responsible for the world "created" by their designs, and I draw on technological mediation theory (Verbeek, 2005) to analyze the social impact of design. I also propose a methodological framework for research for and through design that aims to produce alternative technological mediations for social development through Constructive Design Research (CDR). Regarding technological mediation, Verbeek argues that technology (and technological design) does not determine reality, but rather has a mediating effect on how people perceive the world and, in turn, how people can act in it (2005). To apply this theory, scholars include case studies in their research methodologies to analyze phenomena resulting