I think the problem is that we (I'm a USAian) tend to care less about
our fellow humans and more about whatever specific product we're trying
to sell and the bottom line. I just spent two weeks in Tokyo and I
often felt like someone actually cared about me, even during impersonal
I recently ran across another good example of interaction design that
affects people who don't even own a computer or use one at work.
Traci Lepore wrote about the problems with Bank of America's new ATM
machines on her blog at
I'm surprised that this post did not talk about the fairly random
sound 'cues' the new machines offer: the constant insistent bing
sound that does not stop immediately when the user responds
correctly. I find that really unsettling. Is the machine yelling at
me? At itself?
Plus, if
David -
As an example of the far-reaching impact of interaction design, I
recently wrote about the Boston MBTA subway system and the Charlie
kiosks that are used to purchase fares. Every day, hundreds of
thousands of people ride the Boston subway and many of them are
confused and frustrated
Thanks for all the comments.
Another example that someone mentioned here at work was the automatic
checkout at the grocery store or large hardware store.
I think part of Jason's comment really gets at what I've been
thinking about:
So how can we, as perhaps mere pawns in the game, become
Great questions David R.,
The accountability as I see it, at a superficial level at least
(because I have no real data to support this claim), falls on the
relantionship between the project managers of the design team and the
MBTA stakeholders.
The problem with creating a great, empathetic
Ahhh public transport ticket purchasing systems are always dumb!
This video (made by my partner) captures a couple more examples (the
Melbourne, Australia tram ticketing system is covered at about
1:12mins).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yy6WvLuAZMfeature=channel_page
Enjoy.
. . . . . .
While it may be difficult, I don't think it's necessarily
impossible.
Sometimes all it takes, is for people to be aware that there are not
only problems with the user interface, but that these issues cause
people to become frustrated and have the potential to cause loss of
profits.
The first
