NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3

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Internet Message Format | 1993-01-26 | 10.7 KB

Xref: sparky ba.seminars:798 comp.human-factors:3044 comp.groupware:987 comp.cog-eng:375 Path: sparky!uunet!olivea!sun-barr!ames!pacbell.com!well!riander From: riander@well.sf.ca.us (Richard Ivan Anderson) Newsgroups: ba.seminars,comp.human-factors,comp.groupware,comp.cog-eng Subject: BayCHI (Feb 9) - Where HCI Design Fails / Don Norman (at Stanford) Message-ID: <C1GCuK.3uw@well.sf.ca.us> Date: 26 Jan 93 08:27:56 GMT Sender: news@well.sf.ca.us Distribution: ba Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link Lines: 213 BayCHI, the San Francisco Bay Area ACM SIGCHI (Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction), announces its February meeting: Tuesday, February 9, 1993 7:30 - 9:30 pm Where HCI Design Fails: The hard problems are social and political, not technical Donald A. Norman Apple Computer ******** NOTE DIFFERENT LOCATION THAN USUAL ******** Kresge Auditorium Stanford University (Directions to Kresge - the Law School Auditorium - appear at the end of this posting.) Abstract: The following talk is based upon my experiences as a consultant, but still based within a university environment. My experiences within the product side of Apple confirm the observations a hundred-fold. HCI has been solving the wrong problems. The real reason we have so many bad products is not the lack of HCI expertise but rather social and organizational issues. Why is little attention paid to HCI? Lots of reasons. Here is one: the location of HCI within the organizational structure. If it is off to the side, you lose. Industry tends to be organized into neat, hierarchical compartments: each has its own responsibilities, cost and promotion structure. Even with the most perfect advice, if you aren't part of both the design and manufacturing team, you lose. Most suggestions made by the HCI team lead to increased time, cost, and pressures on the design or manufacturing arm of the company. From their point of view, if they have to spend more money and time, their promotion chances go down. So what if the end result is easier to use, safer, and easier to manufacture and maintain? Add to this a general lack of understanding of how products really get used ("that's a one-in-a-million chance") that implies that the suggestions are unimportant. No wonder HCI doesn't have much respect. We already know a lot about HCI, about design, and about documentation. We know a lot about human behavior and the factors that contribute to human error, to accidents, and to safety. We know how to make products easier and more comfortable to use, and safer. But still, there are problems. Should we do more research, publish more studies? Nope. In my opinion, 10% of the problem involves the science and engineering knowledge of HCI, 90% reflects the social and managerial side. The real problem is one of attitude, which then gets reflected into organizational practice. There are other problems as well. There is plenty of fault to go around. Are there solutions to these problems? Yup, but they will require major realignments of company structures and attitudes. It is difficult, but it can be done. Biography: Donald A. Norman is an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego where he was founding chair of the department of Cognitive Science. He was one of the founders of the Cognitive Science Society and has been chair of the society and editor of its journal, Cognitive Science. He as served as a director of the san Diego Human Factors Society and as a national officer of ACM's SIGCHI. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. "The technological problems today," says Norman, "are sociological and organizational as much as technical. In this new age of portable, powerful, fully-communicating tools, it is ever more important to develop a humane technology, one that takes into account the needs and capabilities of people. " Norman is the author of the book The Design of Everyday Things. His most recent book is Turn Signals Are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles. Things That Make Us Smart is scheduled for publication in May, 1993. *************************************************************************** NOTE OF SPONSORSHIP & THANKS The February BayCHI meeting at Kresge Auditorium is sponsored, in part, by the "Project on People, Computers and Design" at Stanford. Special thanks to Terry Winograd. *************************************************************************** Coming Attraction: March 9 Key Controversies About Computerization & Changing Work Rob Kling, University of California, Irvine at Xerox PARC Auditorium, Palo Alto *************************************************************************** About BayCHI BayCHI, the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of ACM's Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction, brings together systems designers, human factors engineers, computer scientists, psychologists, social scientists, users, ... from throughout the Bay Area to hear and to exchange ideas about computer-human interaction and about the design and evaluation of user interfaces. To join BayCHI, which will get you added to the mailing list for the newsletter, enable your access to the jobbank, enable your listing in and access to the consultants directory, ..., send a note to SAnderson.chi@xerox.com or to BayCHI, PO Box 25, Menlo Park, CA 94026, and we will send you a membership form. Membership forms are also available at the BayCHI meetings. *************************************************************************** BayCHI Steering Committee The BayCHI steering committee meetings are open to anyone who is interested in attending. The meetings are generally held the first Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. Please contact any member of the committee for directions to the meeting. Chair/Program Chair Richard Anderson rianderson.chi@xerox.com Vice Chair Rosemary Wick wick.chi@xerox.com Treasurer Ulrike Creach 415-423-0843 Past Chair Kathy Hemenway hemenway@sun.com BOF Coordinator David Rowley rowley@varian.com South Bay Interface Designers BOF Desiree McCrorey Desiree_McCrorey@smtp.esl.com OSF/Motif BOF Lora Shirley lora@askinc.ask.com Dinner Coordinator Kate Finn finn.chi@xerox.com Publicity/HFS Liason Susan Wolfe wolfe_susan@tandem.com SIGCHI Liason Don Patterson patterson.chi@xerox.com Job Bank Richard Yamauchi yamauchi.chi@xerox.com Newsletter Steve Anderson SAnderson.chi@xerox.com Elections/Newsletter David Simkin david@makesys.com Tutorial Chair Ellen Francik epfrancik@pacbell.com Consultants Directory Scott Luebking phoenix1@netcom.com Member-at-Large Clark Streeter streeter@nersc.gov UI Design Competition Al Lee alee.dr@applelink.apple.com BayCHI -- P.O. Box 25 -- Menlo Park, CA -- 94026 *************************************************************************** Directions to Kresge Auditorium >From Interstate 280, take EITHER the PAGE MILL Road exit OR the SAND HILL Road exit. If you take PAGE MILL, go east on Page Mill about one mile and turn left onto Junipero Serra Blvd. (Foothill Expressway goes in the opposite direction). Go north about two miles and turn right onto Campus Drive East. Turn left onto Alvarado Row (the second cross street). Then turn left at the next corner onto Abbott Way. Kresge - the Law School auditorium - is to the right near the end of Abbott Way. (The most convenient parking for Kresge is around Alvarado Row and Abbott Way.) If you take SAND HILL, go east on Sand Hill about one mile and turn right onto Alpine Road. After a short distance, turn left onto Junipero Serra Blvd. Follow Junipero Serra about one mile to Campus Drive East (not West - you will pass Campus Drive West). Turn left onto Campus Drive East. Turn left onto Alvarado Row (the second cross street). Then turn left at the next corner onto Abbott Way. Kresge - the Law School auditorium - is to the right near the end of Abbott Way. (The most convenient parking for Kresge is around Alvarado Row and Abbott Way.) >From 101, take EITHER the OREGON EXPRESSWAY exit, OR the EMBARCADERO Road exit, OR the UNIVERSITY Avenue exit. If you take the OREGON EXPRESSWAY exit, go west on the Oregon Expressway 2 miles to El Camino Real. Oregon Expressway becomes Page Mill Road at El Camino Real. Follow Page Mill Road 1.5 miles to Junipero Serra Blvd. and turn right (Foothill Expressway goes in the opposite direction). Go north about two miles and turn right onto Campus Drive East. Turn left onto Alvarado Row (the second cross street). Then turn left at the next corner onto Abbott Way. Kresge - the Law School auditorium - is to the right near the end of Abbott Way. (The most convenient parking for Kresge is around Alvarado Row and Abbott Way.) If you take EMBARCADERO, go northwest on Embarcadero 2 miles to El Camino Real. Embarcadero becomes Galvez Street at El Camino Real. Follow Galvez St. about one mile to Campus Drive and turn left. Follow Campus Drive (it turns into Campus Drive East at some point) around to Alvarado Row (approx. 2 miles). Turn right onto Alvarado Row. Then turn left at the next corner onto Abbott Way. Kresge - the Law School auditorium - is to the right near the end of Abbott Way. (The most convenient parking for Kresge is around Alvarado Row and Abbott Way.) If you take UNIVERSITY, go west on University 2 miles to El Camino Real. University becomes Palm Drive at El Camino Real. Follow Palm Drive about one mile to Campus Drive and turn left. Follow Campus Drive (it turns into Campus Drive East at some point) around (approx. 2 1/2 miles) to Alvarado Row. Turn right onto Alvarado Row. Then turn left at the next corner onto Abbott Way. Kresge - the Law School auditorium - is to the right near the end of Abbott Way. (The most convenient parking for Kresge is around Alvarado Row and Abbott Way.)