The Design of Future Things, Chapter 2

Reference Information
The Design of Future Things, Chapter 2
Donald A. Norman
Basic Books, New York, 2009


Summary
The second chapter discusses the gulf that exists between machines and humans in understanding and communication. One aspect of this problem is the current design of supposedly intelligent machines, which operate "automagically", or without the user's knowledge of how they work. This is well enough as long as the machine functions correctly, but when something goes wrong the user is frustrated because they have no idea how to fix it. A fundamental barrier to communication between humans and machines is the lack of "common ground". Machines communicate by strict rules, whereas humans are much more flexible. To help alleviate this problem, the machines should merely suggest that the user take its recommendation and provide the user with multiple options so that the user may better understand what is happening.


The author divided the human brain into three basic levels:

1. Visceral - subconscious and automatic, biologically inherited
2. Behavioral - learned skills that become subconscious
3. Reflective - conscious, self-aware part of the brain

Machines have yet to reach the reflective level, but the author imagines that they soon will. The outline of brain function serves the purpose to show how humans may be augmented with machines that can take over the lower level functions, and perhaps start creeping into the reflective level. That is not to say that machines will think for you, but on your behalf.

The author likens this again to the horse and rider example from chapter one. While a person is riding a horse, the horse handles the actual movement and avoidance of immediate objects on the visceral level. Both the horse and rider learned how their relationship should function, making both of them act on the behavioral level. The rider operates at the reflective level in deciding where to go; however, the horse can also operate at this level if it decides it not longer wishes to bear the rider. The subconscious level of the interactivity between the horse and rider is what the author termed a symbiotic relationship in chapter one. The idea of augmentation is applying the same principles of horse and rider to the relationship between driver and car, where the car begins to assume much of the subconscious work, leaving the driver to simply decide where to go (or even be told where to go if the machines reach the reflective level).

Opinion

The author simply elaborated on the previous chapter and defined the relationship between machines and humans with a little more specificity. I disliked how the chapter contained various, seemingly unrelated topics; for example the augmentation and automagical discussions do not seem to be related enough to be in the same chapter. His description of the lack of common ground was useful, and the refinement of the symbiotic relationship now took a satisfying turn toward explaining how and why it could be achieved.

Deus Ex is a game that explores what an augmented future could bring