Week 3

Chapter 5

I think reading chapter 5 before doing the Hall of Shame/Fame nomination would have been very useful. Then again, reading the entire book before doing the essay probably would have been very useful. Chapter 5 discusses "affective behavior," and how it's becoming more important in the field of interaction design. If people don't feel good while using a well designed interface, then the fact that it is a well designed may not matter - people won't use it because they don't enjoy using it. Conversely, if people enjoy using an interface, they're more likely to continue using it.

Out of the three models of affective aspects, I think that the pleasure model is probably the most important. While it doesn't describe affectiveness biologically, I don't think it's necessarily important in interaction design. It's certainly interesting what is going on biologically, but perhaps the best way to gauge whether someone likes in interface is to have them use it and provide feedback - not have them sit in an MRI while using the interface. The pleasure model does however take into account four types of pleasure, which are all important for affectiveness.

In regards to anthropomorphism, my opinion is that computers are presently better off being limited in how they use human-like reactions. Unless of course there comes a time in the near future where computers can mimic humans so well that the difference is almost indiscernible (although I highly doubt this will happen, as there are many problems with A.I.). As for right now, I haven't seen one anthropomorphic application that I enjoyed using. Usually they're just very irritating, and I'd rather a computer's messages be short. However, with that being said, anthropomorphism is never going to get a an indiscernible point unless people continue to make better applications out of the many failures.

An interesting question I found to be unanswered, which do humans prefer: a fantastically designed interface that really irritates people when using it, or a poorly designed interface that people love using (if such scenarios can be devised)?



Chapter 6

Chapter 6 is a descriptive, although not exhaustive, list of many types of interfaces and the evolution of them - starting in the 1980s and moving through the 2000s. It's obvious that interfaces have come a long way in their design, but it's also obvious that they have much farther to go. I find the newest forms of interaction, such as tangible, shareable, and multimodal interfaces to be the most interesting. I'm sure this is probably because they are the most original ideas in a while. The 1980s and much of the 1990s all consisted of the same things, such as WIMPs. Instead of creating something new, designers only improved on old ideas. Not that I think there is anything wrong with this, in fact I think it's primarily how new ideas, such as tangible interfaces, are born. The newer interfaces are nice simply because they're something fresh.

The book makes mention in the 'augmented and mixed reality interfaces' section about an augmented map that shows flooded areas at high water areas, and what evacuation might look like during a flood. With the fires burning in L.A. and Ramona today it would be interesting to see an application developed for a similar use. I think it would also be worthwhile to design a new interface to get information to people more quickly and efficiently in case of future disasters. It's unfortunate things have to get out of hand before a solution arises.

I also agree with the conclusion of the chapter. Many of the interfaces being researched today are very interesting, but the implementation of them will depend on the situation in which they are used. I'm sure some interfaces will generally work the best as a command line, and some may eventually work the best as a robotic design. However, I think for the most part a mix of several interfaces will always yield the best result. For example, present an interface that includes command line processing and a choice of icons. Multimodal and multimedia presentations present far better options than sticking to just one interface.