The Spectacle of Fidelity: Blind Resistance and the Wizardry of Prototyping

TL;DR

This paper critiques sight-dependent prototyping in HCI, highlighting how it marginalizes non-visual ways of knowing and advocating for more embodied, inclusive design practices.

Contribution

It challenges the visual-centric norms of prototyping in HCI by incorporating perspectives from blind scholars and cultural disability studies.

Findings

Prototyping often relies on visual fidelity, excluding non-visual modes.

Inclusion of embodied practices can diversify design participation.

Current norms marginalize non-visual ways of knowing.

Abstract

Prototyping is widely regarded in Human-Computer Interaction as an iterative process through which ideas are tested and refined, often via visual mockups, screen flows, and coded simulations. This position paper critiques the visual-centric norms embedded in prototyping culture by drawing from the lived experiences of blind scholars and insights from cultural disability studies. It discusses how dominant methods of prototyping rely on an unexamined fidelity to sight, privileging what can be rendered visibly coherent while marginalizing other modes of knowing and making. By repositioning prototyping as a situated, embodied, and relational practice, this paper challenges HCI to rethink what kinds of design participation are legitimized and which are excluded when prototyping is reduced to screen-based simulations.