Design of Everyday Things [57]
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
New technologies, especially the inexpensive microprocessors available today (the heart of the computer) make possible the incorporation of powerful and intelligent systems even in simple, everyday things, from toys to kitchen appliances to office machines. But new capabilities must be accompanied by appropriate displays, also now relatively inexpensive. I asked the students in one of my classes to generate some possibilities for adding visibility to everyday devices. Here are some of them:• Display the song titles for compact discs. Why not take advantage of the storage capacity of an audio compact disc (CD) and have it display not only the number of the song or track (as it now does) but also the title? Each title could be accompanied by other information, such as performers, composer, or playing time. Thus, in programming the CD, you could select by name rather than by number, and you would always know what you were hearing.
• Display the names of television programs. If each television station would also broadcast its station identification and the title of the current program, the viewer who tuned in during the middle of a show could easily find out what it was. The information could be sent in computer-readable format during the retrace interval (the time that the beam is off the screen).
• Print the cooking information for foods on the food package in computer-readable form. This is a scheme for bypassing the need to make things visible. The cooking of frozen foods often requires several different cooking times, waiting times, and heat settings. The programming is complex. If the cooking information were on the package in machine-readable form, one could put the food in the microwave oven, pass a scanner over the printed information, and let the oven program itself.
USING SOUND FOR VISIBILITY
Sometimes things can’t be made visible. Enter sound: sound can provide information available in no other way. Sound can tell us that things are working properly or that they need maintenance or repair. It can even save us from accidents. Consider the information provided by:• The click when the bolt on a door slides home
• The “zzz” sound when a zipper works properly
• The “tinny” sound when a door doesn’t shut right
• The roaring sound when a car muffler gets a hole
• The rattle when things aren’t secured
• The whistle of a tea kettle when the water boils
• The click when the toast pops up
• The increase in pitch when a vacuum cleaner gets clogged
• The indescribable change in sound when a complex piece of machinery starts to have problems
Many devices do use sound, but only for signals. Simple sounds, such as buzzers, bells, or tones. Computers use bleeping, whining, and clicking sounds. This use of sound is valuable and serves an important function, but it is very limited in power; it is as if the use of visual cues were limited to different colored, flashing lights. We could use sound for much more communciation than we do.
These days computers produce several sounds, and keypads, microwave ovens, and telephones beep and burp. These are not naturalistic sounds; they do not convey hidden information. When used properly, a beep can assure you that you’ve pressed a button, but the sound is as annoying as informative. Sounds should be generated so as to give information about the source. They should convey something about the actions that are taking place, actions that matter to the user but that would otherwise not be visible. The buzzes, clicks, and hums that you hear while a telephone call is being completed are one good example: take out those noises