Developing Usable Experiences

A consequence of interaction

March 1st, 2008 9:33 am —  173 views

shoot_out.JPG

Friedrich Nietzsche is reported to have said, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” While this may not always be true, there is a fair bit of wisdom in it.

Over the last week I’ve watched all 26 episodes of a Japanese anime that follows the adventures of a group of bounty hunters traveling on their spaceship, the Bebop, in the year 2071. The final session ends in a final confrontation between two key characters.1 Needless to say it was pretty intense. It was an interesting series and I give a “pew pew” to the Pearl Master for the recommendation.

In real life, to end something in a fatal confrontation is just dumb. It may be the cowboy way and all, but it is still dumb. There are always options. How a person deals with a situation is up to them. Whether it is deciding what to eat for breakfast or pursuing professional interests by continuing your education; actually being there to do these things is what matters. Not being shot down in a blaze of glory.2

We interact with things, with people, with places, because we need information to stay interested, to stay aware, to survive. We interact with our environment via our senses which provide information about where we are and what is around us. We interact with computers the same way (with our senses) but there is something uniquely different about human-computer interaction. Human-computer interaction requires doing something to something to get information. Push that button, move the mouse, click, then move your eyes back and forth interpreting what they see (words, these words, this blog, this).

Human-computer interaction refers to the acts of volition between a person and a computer. Why do you use a computer? What information do you want from it? Why do you want it? Any reason for interacting with a computer is one that starts with thought which leads to intention and then to action.

The hardware that conveys intention (and information) to a computer3 is the first level of interaction but only exists to guide the ghost in the machine. Something needs to move the pointer and make these letters appear. But the application interface is that last gateway to information and the way it is built matters to the way (and if) it is used. This is where design becomes important … but I’ve gone on long enough for today.4

Image: I took this picture a number of years ago while visiting my in-laws in Kalkaska. My nephew T-Bone and I were playing around with his action figures and decided to see if we could create a dramatic stand-off scene. It was a beautiful day out and the whole family was hanging out on the deck chatting and such.

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  1. I really want to say what happens but that would be shitty of me to ruin this for someone else. You’ll have to watch them to see. [↩]
  2. And who doesn’t love this Bon Jovi song anyway? [↩]
  3. The keyboard, mouse, monitor, microphone, camera, keypad, touch-pad, motion sensors, light beams, laser beams, sound waves…etc. [↩]
  4. Geez howdy, I’ve barely scratched the surface of human-computer interaction and how it pertains to information architecture! I could go on, and on, and on…but I won’t. Not today at least. [↩]

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One Response to “A consequence of interaction”

  1. Laiane on March 2nd, 2008 1:24 pm

    Excellent anime choice. I haven’t seen all 26 episodes, so I appreciate the lack of spoilers.

    I haven’t seen any current anime lately, but I would recommend Serial Experiments: Lain. Lots of potential in there for a thesis on “human-computer interaction.”

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