EDITOR
Fred Sampson
wfreds@acm.org
flexibility, and this forces us into conforming to
their one best way of doing things. The more powerful a machine is, the more it is able to conform
to humans, allowing humans to set the terms the
relationship, to be in control. So the diagnosis is
clear: Because even future things will lack the
power to establish an effective dialogue with us,
the promise of technology will always be accompanied by problems, and we humans will feel—to a
lesser or greater extent—out of control.
Even though Norman doesn’t believe that a cure
is possible (or even desirable—just review 2001: A
Space Odyssey to see why the cure might be worse
than the disease), he believes that things could be
much better than they are today. If the design of
new technologies were informed by technology’s
fundamental limitations, the effects of many of
those limitations could be mitigated, and even
turned to good. Norman’s overall design thesis is
that designs need to become more “natural,” where
natural means a move away from the binary and
discrete realm of computer logic to the rich and
dynamic realm of human experiences. For example, while the electronic kettle circa 2008 might
signal boiling water via a beep or a click, the good
old-fashioned steam kettle circa 1850 signals boiling water via a whistle that builds from low and
quiet to high and piercing. Norman doesn’t want
us to throw out digital technology in exchange for
steam, but in a world where everything beeps he’d
like to see designers experiment with a richer palette of sounds[ 1].
To be sure, kettles are simple. That’s why they’re
just a building block of Norman’s design ideal, an
ideal that allows for a natural symbiosis between
human and machine. The best expression of this
is the horse and rider, a system in which the
delegation of authority and the communication
of risk between horse and rider is natural and
almost effortless. This ideal is lofty, but not too
lofty: Norman shows how research into the horse
and rider is changing the way designers today are
thinking about the car of tomorrow.
One surprising thing about this book is that
while it speaks to many current research issues in
the realm of automation design (including inappropriate trust, skill-shift and loss, behavioral compensation, etc.), it isn’t bullish about automation.
Instead of automated systems whose design metaphor is taking over for humans, Norman argues for
augmentative systems whose design metaphor is
amplifying the capabilities and efforts of humans.
These systems already have a strong track record,
from recommender systems on shopping sites to
co-bots that are used in industrial settings to help
operators move items in a warehouse, and they
show promise for much more. Norman doesn’t
discard automation as a design option, but clearly
feels that augmentative technologies are closer to
his ideal of symbiosis, and so have strong potential
for application to the design of everyday things.
This focus on everyday things is perhaps the
greatest strength of Norman’s new book. Even
though he discusses a lot of whiz-bang technology, it never seduces him. His clear interest is in
providing better, simpler—yet more powerful—
technologies to help people get from place to place,
families to work together, and friends to share
experiences. He follows through with useful (but
high-level) design guidance that is applicable even
today. Thankfully, even though this isn’t an academic book, Norman is faithful to the academic
literature. Sure, some will complain that a point
has been missed, or a paper hasn’t been cited—and
they might be right—but that’s missing the point.
The contribution of this book comes from the way
that Norman brings together such a broad range
of research and insight into a reasonably unified
structure, all written and packaged to be accessible
to a general audience. In contrast to those journal
papers he might not have cited, this book might
actually get read, and might help everyday people
to demand a future where instead of technology
requiring respect, technology will instead respect
its users.
And at the end of the day, I was comforted to
see the lowly steam kettle feature prominently in
a book about future things. No matter what the
future has in store, it’s good to know that one of its
foremost prognosticators will always be grounded
by making tea the old-fashioned way. Revisiting my
freshman thoughts after reading this book, I can
happily report that some of Norman’s solutions lie
not in the future, but in the past.
[ 1] As an aside, moving
beyond the beep can
also make technologies
more accessible. Most
of us with adult hearing
can localize sounds, so
the beep of the coffee
maker can be easily
distinguished from the
beep of the washing
machine or the timer by
location. If you are deaf
in one ear (like my son)
or wear a hearing aid
(like my grandmother),
localizing sound is
much more difficult,
and use of a richer,
more natural palette of
sounds would make life
just a little bit easier.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gerard Torenvliet is a
senior human factors engineer at Esterline|CMC
Electronics, where he divides his time between
applied research contracts and product design for
customers in civil and military aviation, as well as
research institutes.
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March + April 2008
