This study discusses the role of design in encountering new parameters for developing the World Wide Web in such a way as to contemplate the socio-cultural differences and cognitive models of social groups that are being marginalized in the process of constructing the information society. Its starting point is to map the evolution, diffusion and implementation of the Internet and WWW in central and peripheral countries, highlighting the contradictions attendant on the proliferating use of this vehicle. It analyzes technological innovations that may alter the Net’s present configuration, in an endeavor to identify the socio-economic implications of this reformulation. Then, building on dialog with theoreticians in design and related areas, it discusses the social function of design in the current context of the information society. Finally, by analyzing the design of existing World Wide Web search engines, it brings out the prevalence of certain socio-economic groups in developing information technologies in line with the logic, current in the set of ideas informing turn-of-the-century economic and financial globalization, of introducing a single model of development. It then points to the importance of design in formulating design alternatives for the WWW, directed to enabling different social groups to participate effectively in the information society.
Dissertation from the research developed during my Masters in Design graduation, at Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro.