Design of Everyday Things [102]
• Automate, but keep the task much the same.
• Change the nature of the task.
Let us look separately at each of these possibilities.
KEEP THE TASK MUCH THE SAME, BUT PROVIDE MENTAL AIDS
Don’t underestimate the power or importance of simple mental aids. Consider, for example, the value of simple, everyday notes to ourselves. Without them, we might fail. Or simple notepads for telephone numbers, names, addresses—for the facts that are essential to everyday functioning, but that we cannot trust our own memory structures to provide. Some mental aids are also technological advances; these include watches, timers, calculators, pocket dictating machines, computer notepads, and computer alarms. Some aids are still to come: the pocket computer with a powerful display, which will keep our notes, remind us of our appointments, and smooth our passage through the schedules and interactions of life.
USE TECHNOLOGY TO MAKE VISIBLE WHAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE INVISIBLE, THUS IMPROVING FEEDBACK AND THE ABILITY TO KEEP CONTROL
The instruments in the automobile or aircraft do not change the task, but they do make visible the state of the engine and the other parts of the vehicle, even though you cannot physically get access to them. Similarly, the microscope and telescope, television set, camera, microphone, and loudspeaker all provide ways of getting information about a remote object, making visible (or audible) what is happening, making possible tasks and pursuits that would otherwise not be possible. With modern computers and their powerful graphic displays, we now have the power to show what is really happening, to provide a good, complete image that matches the person’s mental model of the task—thereby simplifying both understanding and performance. Today, computer graphics are used more for show than for legitimate purposes. Their powers are wasted. But there exists great potential to make visible what should be visible (and to keep hidden what is irrelevant).
These first two approaches to mental aids keep the main tasks unchanged. They act as reminders. They reduce memory load by providing external memory devices (providing knowledge in the world rather than requiring it to be in the head). They supplement our perceptual abilities. Sometimes they enhance human skills sufficiently so that a job that was not possible before, or was possible only for the most highly skilled performers, becomes available to many.
Don’t these so-called advances also cause us to lose valuable mental skills? Each technological advance that provides a mental aid also brings along critics who decry the loss of the human skill that has been made less valuable. Fine, I say: if the skill is easily automated, it wasn’t essential.
I prefer to remember things by writing them on a pad of paper rather than spending hours of study on the art of memory. I prefer using a pocket calculator to spending hours of pencil pushing and grinding, usually only to make an arithmetic mistake and not discover it until after the harm has been done. I prefer prerecorded music to no music, even if I risk becoming complacent about the power and beauty of the rare performance. And I prefer writing on a text editor or word processor so that I can concentrate on the ideas and the style, not on making marks on the paper. Then I can go back later and correct ideas, redo the grammar. And with the aid of my all-important spelling correction program, I can be confident of my presentation.
Do I fear that I will lose my ability to spell as a result of overreliance on this technological crutch? What ability? Actually, my spelling is improving through the use of this spelling corrector that continually points out my errors and suggests the correction, but won’t make a change unless I approve. It is certainly a lot more patient than my teachers used to be. And it is always there when I need it, day or night. So I get continual feedback about my errors, plus useful advice. My typing does seem