Beyond Technocratic XAI: The Who, What & How in Explanation Design
This work addresses the challenge for XAI practitioners in designing effective and ethically responsible explanations, though it is incremental as it builds on prior research and design principles.
The paper tackles the problem of generating meaningful explanations in Explainable AI (XAI) by reframing it as a context-dependent design process, proposing a three-part framework (Who, What, How) to guide practitioners in creating accessible and transparent explanations.
The field of Explainable AI (XAI) offers a wide range of techniques for making complex models interpretable. Yet, in practice, generating meaningful explanations is a context-dependent task that requires intentional design choices to ensure accessibility and transparency. This paper reframes explanation as a situated design process -- an approach particularly relevant for practitioners involved in building and deploying explainable systems. Drawing on prior research and principles from design thinking, we propose a three-part framework for explanation design in XAI: asking Who needs the explanation, What they need explained, and How that explanation should be delivered. We also emphasize the need for ethical considerations, including risks of epistemic inequality, reinforcing social inequities, and obscuring accountability and governance. By treating explanation as a sociotechnical design process, this framework encourages a context-aware approach to XAI that supports effective communication and the development of ethically responsible explanations.