The Inmates Are Running the Asylum
Cooper, Alan
Sams Publishing, 2004
Summary
The first two chapters of The Inmates Are Running the Asylum are part of a section called Computer Obliteracy. This section discusses how computers have found their way into every device imaginable and how utterly frustrating these devices become to anyone who is not a computer power user.
Chapter one, entitled Riddles for the Information Age, introduces many examples of problems caused by the integration of computers, or even more importantly, software, to many machines and devices. Those examined include an airplane, a camera, an alarm clock, a car, a bank, and a warship. The author emphasizes that computers may be very precise while still being very wrong. Some attribute this to human error, but the author believes that the machine should have been able to detect when something just did not seem "right". As devices morph from mechanical means to computer-powered machines, they begin to act more and more like a computer and less operate less intuitively. Computers, as a result of poor programming, fail to interact adequately with humans and constantly punish its users for every transgression. This leads to a splitting of the workforce: those who can handle the exacting nature of the modern computer, and those who cannot. The author terms this a "software apartheid". This is a result of the difficulty in use of software as it exists currently. The programmers and system designers need to be trained to make software with an emphasis on usability. The interface should be completely designed before programming so that improvements can be made as testing and development are taking place.
The idea of cognitive friction is the main theme of the second chapter. Cognitive friction is "the resistance encountered by a human intellect when it engages with a complex system of rules that change as the problem changes." Current software-based devices do not have a one-to-one correspondence to the user's manipulation. To help alleviate this, products need to be designed by interaction designers instead of software engineers. The author says that there are two forms of design: the user-facing side, and the rest of the system. Software engineers are poor at designing adequate interfaces because they typically do not use the products that they produce and their design decisions are often based on what is easiest for them to implement. The author prefers calling interface design "interaction design" since interface design has other connotations than natural communication. Behavioral design determines how the software should act and communicate. Conceptual design considers what is actually valuable to the end user. Designers need to think conceptually, then behaviorally, then finally about the interface. The main goal of design is to not make the user feel stupid or inadequate. Cognitive friction is not inherent to technology, it is made to exists by those who create the technology. Since software can be so easily created (compared to physical machines), much software becomes bloated and difficult to use because of the excess of features. Cognitive friction forces people into two groups: apologists and survivors. Apologists are those who were able to overcome the difficulties and felt empowerment therein. The author also shows a "Euphemism Pyramid". This pyramid has power users at the top, computer literate users in the middle, and naive users at the bottom. He claims that this is the sort of thing companies look at when designing products, but they end up discounting the naive users in favor of the computer literate and power users.
Opinion
These two chapters had an obscene amount of material. The only interesting part of the two chapters is something that I had never considered: what an average, or naive, user would expect something to do. His point that all of the engineers are surrounded by others like them clouds their vision to what the average user's abilities and expectations. Some of his examples are quite absurd and out of date. Many of his complaints seem to have been addressed by developments since the book was released. His idea that there would be a schism between technical and non-technical users' ability to find work in the modern age has already taken place. However, this situation is resolved naturally as those without the skills are retiring while younger people with much more experience with computers enter the workforce.
The power user sees and understands
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