Week 1

7 thoughts on “Week 1”

1. A1: The author believes that lack of communication on how to use products is the biggest problem facing effective human-machine interaction.

   A2: An affordance tells the user everything that is possible to do while a signifier tells you what to do.

   A3: Quick, understandable, and attention grasping cues in addition to conceptual models are the author’s criteria for effective feedback.

   Reply
2. 1. The author believes the biggest problem is the complete lack of understanding of the design principles necessary for effective human-machine interaction. Engineers and designers make things for people, so its important that they possess the knowledge about the intricacies of the machine, as well as understanding of the people in order to create intuitive designs.
   2. An affordance is the relationship between the properties of an object and capabilities of an agent that determines how the object can be used. Signifiers refer to any perceivable indicator that communicated appropriate behavior to a person.
   3. Effective feedbacks need to do the following:
   4. They confirm all actions but in a way that is not obtrusive.
   5. They must be prioritized, so that unimportant information is presented in a subtle manner.
   6. Important signals are presented in a way that captures attention.
   7. When there is major emergencies, even important signals have to be prioritized.

   Example of good feedback: When I turn on the PS5 controller, it beeps once and the accent light turn on. It is subtle and not obtrusive. When I turn it off, it beeps once and lifts go off, signaling it off.

   Can’t think of any example of bad feedbacks.

   Reply

3. Week 1: Reading Responses

   Questions to respond to:

   Q1: What does the author believe is the biggest problem facing effective human-machine interaction and why is that?

   A1: The author relays a few experiences of failed human-machine interaction that he attributes to poor design and the increasing and somewhat unnecessary complexity of everyday objects. He further highlights the two most important characteristics of good design – discoverability and understanding, which were missing in these instances of failed interaction. Discoverability is the ease of figuring out what actions are possible and how to perform them when interacting with a machine, product, or service. While, understanding is being able to identify what a product is, its uses, and its controls. 

   Q2: What is the difference between an affordance and a signifier?

   A2: Affordance and Signifier are among the characteristics that aid discoverability in the principle of Human Centered Design (HCD). Affordance is the relationship between the person and an object that aids in a person’s ability to intuit/perceive how to use or interact with the object. Signifiers, however, communicate the full scope of possible interactions. Signifiers can also be described as affordances or anti-affordances made literal using labeling, signs, or directions. Admittedly, the author mentioned that such literal signals are symptoms of bad design because if affordance was adequately perceivable people wouldn’t need the added signals. 

   Q3: What are some of the author’s criteria for effective feedback?

   A3: Feedback should be instantaneous, variable, unobstructive, properly weighted to the initial interaction, informative, and planned or expected. 

   Bonus: Can you give an example of good and bad feedback (1 for each) from your own experience?

   Bonus Answers:

   Elevator buttons lighting up in the center when they’re pushed is an example of good feedback. For bad feedback, I also resonated with the author’s complaints about appliances that make a lot of extended beeping and booping noise. Because I also do laundry at night to save on electricity costs, it’s irritating when the washer and dryer start making noises if they’re not attended to immediately after they’ve finished the laundry. 

   Reply

4. A1: Don Norman believes the biggest problem facing effective human-machine interaction is the lack of intuitive design. In the book excerpt, he is cited as saying “the plant’s control rooms were so poorly designed that error was inevitable: design was at fault.” This quote shows that the accident could have been avoided if the control rooms were better designed.

   A2: As described in the book, affordance is what an object suggests to the user what actions may be possible with it. On the other hand, a signifier is an indicator that shows the user how to use the object.

   A3: Don Norman describes several criteria for effective feedback. One of his criteria is that it should be provided as soon as possible to solve issues effectively. Another one of his criteria is to be informative, have relevant information, and remain unambiguous. Norman also describes how discoverability, the ability to figure out the affordance of an object, and understanding, how clear it is to the user what the object does, is essential for good design.

   Reply

5. Q1: What does the author believe is the biggest problem facing effective human-machine interaction and why is that?

   The author believes that the biggest problem facing effective human-machine interaction is that the design is often too complicated. He believes that a big cause of this issue is that engineers often design their machines for the way that they want humans to perceive and interpret their creations instead of how they are known to actually do. This creates numerous errors for technicians and consumers and frustrates engineers. The solution that Norman presents is Human-Centered Design.

   Q2: What is the difference between an affordance and a signifier?

   An affordance is the relationship between the user and an object that they are interacting with. It is the way in which a user will understand how to interact with an object. This affordance can be multiple things, as described by the book, a chair affords both sitting and lifting, it can be used in either manner. He says that affordances are not properties, they are relationships, which I think, to be frank, is mostly padding, they could be considered properties, just as an affordance is a property of design. Although I do understand his argument from a linguistic point of view, you would not often say that a chair is sittable or liftable, you would say that it can be lifted or sat on. Writers are silly. A signifier as described by the book is a property that describes the affordances that an object has.

   Q3: What are some of the author’s criteria for effective feedback?

   The author claims that effective feedback is marked by expediency, prior-planning, and information. Every piece of feedback must have an effective amount of information, delivered as soon as the action takes place or slightly prior. This is done through taking the time to plan things out beforehand.

   Bonus: Can you give an example of good and bad feedback (1 for each) from your own experience?

   An example of good feedback that I have experienced would be a set of metal dice, you know that the dice have been rolled effectively through immediate sound and touch. An example of bad feedback would be with almost any game that has you flying, There is very little to no resistance or lead into actions and directions, causing flying games (sans spaceships) to feel jerky and uncontrollable.

   Reply

6. A1

   The author believes that the biggest problem facing effective human-machine interaction is that a machine has its limits, It’s because they dont share our experiences or what people have in common with one another. These experiences enable others to interact with each other because of the same understanding and machines normally just follow a set of rules to do a task.

   A2

   Affordance is the relationship between a physical object and a person, they show what actions are possible and on the other hand, Signifiers are any mark or sound/ indicator that communicates appropriate behavior to a person. Signifiers communicate where the action should be.

   A3

   1. Delay is too long
   2. Must Be Informative
   3. Poor feedback can be worse than no feedback at all
   4. . Too much feedback can be even more annoying than too little.
   5. inappropriate feedback
   6. uninterpretable feedback that can be distracting. Can be subjected to continual flashing lights, text announcements, spoken voices, or beeps and boops, but it can be dangerous.

   Reply

7. Q1: Don Norman believes the biggest problem facing effective human-machine interaction is poor design, particularly the lack of understanding and consideration for usersmental models and expectations, leading to confusion and frustration. Being able to communicate effectively is one of main differences between good and bad design.

   Q2: An affordance is a perceived action possibility of an object, while a signifier is a design element that communicates how the object should be used, helping users understand its functionality. Example: Affordance of bottle cap is open and close, this is signified by labeling on the cap that tells the user which way to screw. The signaling component of affordances are the signifiers

   Q3: Some of the author’s criteria for effective feedback include immediacy, informativeness, and consistency. Feedback should be timely, provide meaningful information about the systems state, and be presented in a way that aligns with users expectations.

   Reply