Courteous Computers
I'd like to refer back to my previous post about Context Sensitive devices. Although I touched on it a little in the text as well as a comment I made, I thought this topic to merit its own seperate post.
Most people don't like computers. Sure, they like what computers can do for them. There's no denying that. They don't, in general, like interacting with computers. As a software / interface designer, it's my job to ask why and how to fix it. From general experience and what I've read, the reason why people don't like it is because the computer often does something that the user doesn't expect. This can be frustrating. Let's say you're working on a paper and all of a sudden your computer slows to a crawl - your anti-virus scan has kicked in. Your looking around, trying to minimize windows to get to the one you want, all the while enduring the painful agony of slow-response times. Eventually, you get to the virus program and pause it (or worse, turn it off). You finally get back to the paper, only to have forgotten what you were thinking. This one instance has caused you quite a bit of grief and time. Was it necessary?
What if the computer had issued a noticeable, yet un-intrusive, message box. Not the kind that pops up in the middle of your screen, but rather the kind that fades in from the side. Better yet, what if the message box appeared only after you had stopped typing for a few seconds (an implicit suggestion that you are available for such a message). This box had a question in it - "Would you like to run your scheduled anti-virus scan now?" Your options are "Yes, Snooze (10 minutes) and Cancel Scan".
The computer is practicing some etiquette here. It doesn't just start doing something without your permission, possibly interrupting what you are working on. Instead, it waits courteously. If you are not around, or have not responded within a minute, it will then begin the scan automatically. If you are around, chances are that you will answer the computer's question within the alotted time. If you choose to Snooze the scan, you merely delay it, not turn it off or pause it indefinitely.
This is just one example of how rude computers are and how much we just accept it (or resent it). If you can think of another example where this type of courteous approach is helpful, please post a comment below. I'd love to hear it!
Most people don't like computers. Sure, they like what computers can do for them. There's no denying that. They don't, in general, like interacting with computers. As a software / interface designer, it's my job to ask why and how to fix it. From general experience and what I've read, the reason why people don't like it is because the computer often does something that the user doesn't expect. This can be frustrating. Let's say you're working on a paper and all of a sudden your computer slows to a crawl - your anti-virus scan has kicked in. Your looking around, trying to minimize windows to get to the one you want, all the while enduring the painful agony of slow-response times. Eventually, you get to the virus program and pause it (or worse, turn it off). You finally get back to the paper, only to have forgotten what you were thinking. This one instance has caused you quite a bit of grief and time. Was it necessary?
What if the computer had issued a noticeable, yet un-intrusive, message box. Not the kind that pops up in the middle of your screen, but rather the kind that fades in from the side. Better yet, what if the message box appeared only after you had stopped typing for a few seconds (an implicit suggestion that you are available for such a message). This box had a question in it - "Would you like to run your scheduled anti-virus scan now?" Your options are "Yes, Snooze (10 minutes) and Cancel Scan".
The computer is practicing some etiquette here. It doesn't just start doing something without your permission, possibly interrupting what you are working on. Instead, it waits courteously. If you are not around, or have not responded within a minute, it will then begin the scan automatically. If you are around, chances are that you will answer the computer's question within the alotted time. If you choose to Snooze the scan, you merely delay it, not turn it off or pause it indefinitely.
This is just one example of how rude computers are and how much we just accept it (or resent it). If you can think of another example where this type of courteous approach is helpful, please post a comment below. I'd love to hear it!
posted by Matt James at
11:24 PM
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