Design of Future Things Ch. 4

The Design of Future Things
Chapter 4
Donald Norman
Editors:?

Summary:
In this chapter the author discusses how humans have become dependent on machines, causing humans to become the servants of machines. Humans rely on machines to do tedious jobs, while they themselves do not understand how the machine works. This leaves them to supervise the machines to make sure that the job is accomplished. This causes humans to spend a great deal of time on machine maintenance and supervision. 

The amount of supervision that machines require is further increased due to the lack of communication between humans and machines. The author suggests that machines will perform best when the humans they are interacting with receive specialized training that teaches them about the functions and details of the machine. For example, in an industrialized setting, a machine operator would be trained on how to effectively utilize any machines that he is interacting with and the machine would be able to perform its job well. However, in a household environment a machine operator would receive no special training on how to use a machine and the machine would not be able to perform its job as well. Because machines cannot effectively communicate with humans, the humans need to learn more about the machines and all of their intricacies before they can work together effectively.


The author also discusses the problem of  designing machines to have automation but not full automation. In instances where machines do not have full automation, they may return control to the operator at any time. This can be dangerous since the operator may not be paying attention or may not have enough knowledge about the situation to react effectively. The author believes that machines should either be fully automated, requiring no human intervention, or have no automation at all. Examples of full automation that the author discusses are swarms and platoons. In a swarm system machines communicate with each other to move in a common direction, while in platoon systems machines follow the direction of a designated leader.


Discussion:
I think that this reading is significant because it shows how much time humans spend monitoring and babysitting machines. It also shows the risk that having semi automated machines can pose, especially in industrialized or other dangerous areas. I think that the author failed to address the merits of semi automated systems while only addressing their flaws. This reading can be applied to many areas where humans relay on machine automation. A good idea would be to design systems around the fact that machines will be ceding control to humans in the vent of an emergency. Such systems could inform the operator about the situation and even offer guidance.