Interface Memetics Research Lab
The Interface Memetics Research Lab studies how control systems and power relationships propagate through technical and administrative interfaces in society. Building on the field of culture science/memetics, we examine how interface design functions as sociocultural technology - shaping behavior, enabling coordination, and creating new forms of institutional dependency.
Our research focuses on "interface memetics" - mapping how technical systems encode and propagate patterns of control, investigating how platform interfaces degrade community capacity while creating extractable dependencies, and documenting how these changes create cascading system failures. This work emerged from my 2017 project called Consequence Design, which I've written and spoke about for years. Consequence design looks at how technology foisted onto everyday life creates problems that negatively impact how we live, work and interact with each other. This work builds on those foundations, by contending with the increasing reliance on "AI" on everyday experiences.
As screens and algorithims increasingly mediate daily life invisibly, understanding how interface design functions as cultural technology becomes critical. Our open research approach aims to make these patterns visible and studiable, developing frameworks to analyze how interface control enables system capture while exploring possibilities for speculative forms.
Framework Overview
Core Argument
Technical interfaces function as sociocultural technology, propagating specific patterns of control and coordination across institutions. These interface-mediated patterns systematically degrade institutional capacity while creating new dependencies - not as a side effect, but as a core mechanism of how interface control operates.
Key Patterns
From healthcare to urban systems, similar patterns emerge: interfaces become control points, institutional knowledge is converted to platform data, and communities lose ability to function independently.
System Effects
These changes create cascading vulnerabilities - each system failure makes the next more likely, accelerating dependency on platforms while degrading community resilience.
Crisis Cascade Patterns
How system failures compound and accelerate each other, creating cyclical patterns of degradation
Primary Cascade Patterns
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Initial System Failure
The triggering event that begins the cascade, often stemming from interface control or system dependency issues.
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Infrastructure Degradation
Physical and digital infrastructure begins to fail as maintenance and operation become impossible.
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Administrative Collapse
Organizations lose the ability to perform basic functions due to interface dependencies.
Secondary Effects
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Knowledge Loss
Institutional knowledge and operational capacity degrade as systems become more opaque.
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Resource Depletion
Resources are consumed faster as systems become less efficient and more crisis-prone.
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Compounding Effects
Each failure makes others more likely, creating accelerating cycles of degradation.
Core Patterns in Interface Memetics
Sociocultural Technology Patterns
- Interface Control Mechanisms
- Platform Dependency Creation
- Administrative Violence Through Design
- Knowledge System Disruption
Interface Propagation Patterns
- Memetic Engineering Through Interfaces
- System Capture Mechanisms
- Coordination Pattern Distribution
- Infrastructure Culture Shifts
Research Domains
Interface Pattern Analysis
- Cultural Technology Mapping
- Interface Control Propagation
- Institutional Memory Systems
- Coordination Pattern Evolution
Applied Studies
- Platform Culture Effects
- Administrative System Evolution
- Urban Interface Dependencies
- Institutional Pattern Shifts
This project is licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 .
View the source code on GitHub .