[IxDA Discuss] "Interface-Free" Interface

Mon Oct 30 10:51:01 PST 2006

Well, what is our mission as Designers if not to help make the world better
and improve the well-being of humans and to sometimes dare to consider
everything involved in reaching these goals?

Just another dreamer...

Sebi

On 10/30/06, Miguel Gonzalez <maglez at btinternet.com> wrote:
>
> [Please voluntarily trim replies to include only relevant quoted
> material.]
>
> Oh come on! you guys lost the point.
>
> As Interaction Designers, we have a mission and that is not to worry about
> people's weight,
> actually, if someone gets fat, then his or her problem is more related to
> a health diet, not on
> usability, design...
>
> I took Chrsitine's post more as a funny thing than serious. We humans make
> comparisons to help us
> on explaining new concepts to people by using a concept that they already
> know, but that
> comparison has to be close to the new concept and so do not mislead them,
> the shovel example is
> just a bad comparison.
>
> You guys can't be serious about this.
>
> Maglez.
>
>
>
> --- "Gomez, Marla A" <marla.a.gomez at intel.com> wrote:
>
> > [Please voluntarily trim replies to include only relevant quoted
> material.]
> >
> > Hooray - you touched on a subject close to my heart...people move way
> too little nowadays and
> > some of us find joy in the physical as well as some people's
> intelligence lies more in the
> > physical realm...however, in today's company, the focus is on efficiency
> to cut costs so
> > anything physical would still have to be efficient timewise...you bring
> up some very interesting
> > points for discussion.
> >
> > Marla Gómez
> > User Experience Researcher
> > Intel
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
> > [mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of
> Christine Boese
> > Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 8:15 AM
> > To: discuss at ixda.org
> > Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] "Interface-Free" Interface
> >
> > [Please voluntarily trim replies to include only relevant quoted
> material.]
> >
> > Hey y'all,
> >
> > What an interesting discussion thread! I have nothing of substance to
> add to
> > the excellent points raised, esp. by Alan's memory of the document in
> his
> > file cabinet (terrific RAM call-up there!).
> >
> > But while reading one point below, I was struck by a silly idea, and I
> > wondered to myself how it would play out in a discussion among interface
> > designers.
> >
> > The item that set my mind spinng were several of the Fatigue Sources
> Alan
> > remembered, below:
> >
> > Fatigue sources included:
> > - necesity for operators to hold their arms up
> > - requirement to reach and retract arm on each completed interaction
> > - positioning of the screen for touch required operators to change
> > their head/body positions
> >
> > I got to thinking to myself about... oh, the obesity epidemic we hear
> about
> > all the time.
> >
> > I got to thinking about the interface design of a shovel. You know, say
> for
> > digging a ditch to put down your Directv satellite cable to the place in
> the
> > yard where the dish has to be? Just a little ditch. This isn't like
> tilling
> > a garden by hand or anything.
> >
> > So I'm guessing there will be some fatigue sources for the interface
> design
> > of the shovel. Some of those things are minimized, because it is a lever
> (as
> > is a broom), and we know that with a lever big enough, we can lift the
> > world. But your basic shovel functions as a lever because one hand
> chokes up
> > on the handle, forming the fulcrum, while the other holds on closer to
> the
> > end.
> >
> > So besides the function of the lever, there are a couple of other
> Fatigue
> > Sources, like perhaps the need to bend at the waist, and the force
> needed to
> > dig the shovel into the ground, usually be stepping down hard on the top
> of
> > the blade. But the blade edge on the ground can form another lever as
> well,
> > to help turn hard-packed earth.
> >
> > Clearly these fatigue sources pose a problem for this interface. Should
> we
> > propose all shovels be eliminated because of poor interface design, in
> favor
> > of the far superior backhoe or rototiller?
> >
> > But those interfaces burn fossil fuels, while a shovel burns human
> calories.
> > There is that obesity epidemic, after all, and this is just a little
> ditch,
> > to bury that Directv cable.
> >
> > Some people may HAVE to dig ditches all day by hand, and if fossil fuels
> run
> > out one day, we all may have to do it at sometime, at the very least to
> bury
> > our own waste. There can be terrible ergonomic problems for the back and
> > neck too, with a risk of repetitive stress injuries, bursitis, and so
> on.
> > Shovels all over the world will be spawning lawsuits, unless interface
> > designers can address these issues.
> >
> > I know, I'm just being silly, but I wanted to step back and think about
> > things in these terms for a second. Since when does a physical movement
> > factor automatically count as a strike against an interface design
> calculus,
> > you know, physical movement=bad?
> >
> > Would ALL IDEAL interfaces ultimately move toward telepathic control and
> > utterly inert human users, like Stephen Hawking's eye-controller
> thingie?
> > Should we really be designing interfaces so as to make the physical body
> > obsolete?
> >
> > Yes, I know accessiblity issues mandate certain interface features so as
> not
> > to restrict differently abled people from using them. And that's part of
> the
> > reason we have both right- and left-handed scissors. I'm not arguing for
> > discarding those standards. I like inclusiveness in design very much.
> >
> > But what PHILOSOPHIES, what unexamined assumptions sit behind the idea
> > (perhaps going back to Taylorism, factory assembly line efficiency
> studies)
> > that minimizing physical movement is an ultimate good?
> >
> > And could we not say the politics of those deep structure interfaces are
> > part of what helped create the obesity epidemic? (along with high
> fructose
> > corn syrup and MSG, of course).
> >
> > Indulge me one more second, and then I'll shut up. Consider an
> alternative
> > universe where inert bodies are not an unintended consequence of
> interface
> > design assumptions. All of these assumptions are socially-constructed
> > anyway, so imagine a culture that values all movement, considers
> kinetics,
> > all kinetics, as a form of dance and joy, from working a shovel to
> > snowboarding to chopping wood to making love. Bodies in motion.
> >
> > Such a culture would not be able to sit still long enough to learn to
> love
> > our inert body interfaces. Their feet would get twitchy. Their knees
> would
> > bounce up and down. Maybe they'd compulsively pick at their pimples or
> twirl
> > and chew on their hair. Maybe they'd start chain smoking, or get another
> > oral fixation and fill their need for movement with food.
> >
> > Their asses might spread a bit, if they really HAD to be married to our
> > inert body interfaces. Maybe they'd buy their children interfaces that
> used
> > their feet on something like a twister mat, so the kids wouldn't be
> lured
> > away by the attractive idea of creative and unstructured play in the
> > physical interface called "outside."
> >
> > Think of it. Some of these people, forced into these inert positions for
> > long periods of time, not conscious that their bodies were craving
> movement,
> > might just sort of automatically find themselves at porn sites, maybe
> daily,
> > maybe more often than daily, watching the kinds of movement that people
> who
> > still live in a world of movement get to do...
> >
> > I'm just speculating...
> >
> > Chris
> >
> > On 10/30/06, Alan Wexelblat <awexelblat at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > [Please voluntarily trim replies to include only relevant quoted
> > > material.]
> > >
> > > I can't find the references at this moment (they're on this ancient
> > > paper medium somewhere in my home office filing cabinet) but back in
> > > the late 80s the military went through a fad of touchscreen
> > > interfaces.  They were found to be highly error-prone and fatiguing.
> > >
> > > Error sources include:
> > > - size of the pointing device (fingertip vs cursor)
> > > - selection with the finger obscures the thing you're trying to select
> > > - uncertainty on feedback.  The combination of physical feedback (does
> > > the screen flex in response to pressure?  If so how much and how does
> > > the user correlate that feedback with visual changes?) proved
> > > difficult for some users.
> > > - dirt and oils from human hands tended to introduce errors and
> > > obscure displays after extended use.
> > >
> > > Fatigue sources included:
> > > - necesity for operators to hold their arms up
> > > - requirement to reach and retract arm on each completed interaction
> > > - positioning of the screen for touch required operators to change
> > > their head/body positions
> > > - operators tended to crane their necks sideways to try and confirm a
> > > touch that was full or partially blocked by their fingertips.
> > >
> > > The tasks used were very similar to the original "Put That There"
> > > gestural interface, which is why I got interested in the research (I
> > > did my MS on gesture). The military operators used the touch screens
> > > in 1, 2, 4 and 8 hour shifts that matched their normal work schedules.
> > > Even a one-hour shift was perceived as fatiguing.  This leads me to
> > > believe that touch interfaces are fine for casual interaction over
> > > short periods, but not really suitable for extended work.
> > >
> > > On 10/29/06, Dan Saffer <dan at odannyboy.com> wrote:
> > > > "Jeff Han demonstrates-for the first time publicly-his intuitive,
> > > > "interface-free," touch-driven computer screen, which can be
> > > > manipulated intuitively with the fingertips, and responds to varying
> > > > levels of pressure."
> > > >
> > > > http://ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=j_han&flashEnabled=1
> > > >
> > > > Just because an interface is [arguably] easy to use, doesn't mean
> > > > it's interface free. While I think this is a really need use of the
> Z-
> > > > axis and a gestural interface, I'm wondering about its limitations
> > > > for daily use. Could I type on a touch-screen keypad all day, for
> > > > instance? How would MS Office for instance (not to mention Adobe
> > > > products) get translated into this mouse-less OS?
> > > ________________________________________________________________
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> >
> >
> > --
> > christine boese
> > www.serendipit-e.com
> > ________________________________________________________________
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-- 
Sergiu Sebastian Tauciuc
http://www.sergiutauciuc.ro/en/