[IxDA Discuss] the appearance of change

[Oleh Kovalchuke]

Perception matters. Tog (I think) mentions how he would save a screen
capture of the last screen at shut down and would display that screen at
boot up to simulate perception of quicker start up. The animated icon of
hour glass serves the same purpose. It is benign use of quirks of human
psychology.

The consequences of the measures described in the article are not so
harmless. I think the consequences are essentially the same as those in the
classic Stanford prison experiment [1]. The outcome of the "visible
security" creates and conditions dependent, top-down culture in the society.
The culture is comfortable to the elite, unpleasant to the conforming
populace. I have seen it back in the USSR - it is not an exhilarating
society to live in (it is not a particularly safe environment either).

Oleh

PS Another curious example of perception bias is inclusion of green and
blue colors into the the nationwide anxiety scale. The colors have never
been used [2]. Isn't it essentially the "War is Peace" message?

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeland_Security_Advisory_System



On Dec 29, 2007 5:19 PM, Michael Tuminello <mt at motiontek.com> wrote:

> Hi -
>
> I thought this was an interesting (and infuriating) article that
> deserved to be seen more widely, and it also bizarrely reminded me of
> several software decisions that I have seen in the past - changes
> that appear to address a concern, implemented because it is easier
> (and ironically more believable) to fake a solution than it is to
> explain the technical reality to people who aren't computer engineers.
>
> http://jetlagged.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/28/the-airport-security-
> follies/index.html
>
> If anyone has seen and dealt with a similar situation without
> building a fake solution I'd be interested to hear about it.
>
> MT
>
>
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-- 
Oleh Kovalchuke
Interaction Design is the Design of Time
http://www.tangospring.com/IxDtopicWhatIsInteractionDesign.htm