The Design of Future Things, Chapter 5

The Design of Future Things, Chapter 5
by Donald A. Norman

     The fifth chapter of The Design of Future Things focuses on the nature of automation and what the future of design is in regards to automation. The problem with pure automation, according to Norman, is that machines try to guess human intention and emotion, often failing. Automation works when the task is clearly defined, and doesn't have a lot of variation. For example, a "smart home" that controls the temperature and lighting in the house based on feedback from a human user is successful automation, as are the automated transit cars that transport people between terminals in an airport. But, as Norman gives an example, automation does not work when the task has a lot of variation and unpredictability. In an automatic baggage sorting system at the airport, all the baggage are of different sizes and weights, and the tags are in different locations. An automated system doesn't work in a situation like this, and human input is instead needed.
     Norman calls for "augmentation" instead of automation. With augmentation, intelligent systems provide help and suggestions in order to help us with difficult tasks, or make boring tasks easier and faster. These systems are not intrusive because the human always has a choice whether to use the augmentation help or not. Machines must be added that support human activities instead of doing the activities for us, and helps us finish things easier and faster. We should be glad that we used the system, whether an automated or augmentation system, instead of it stressing us out. Future designers should look to automate things that are hard for humans to do, are dirty or dangerous, and should look to augment things that humans regularly do and that are everyday activities, like personal hygiene, entertainment, and controlling the environment of their home.

     I thought that this chapter was one of the most sensible chapters that Norman has written so far. In it, he talks about how machines need to complete users and not try to do everything for them. In previous chapters he seemed to talk only about cars that drove themselves, and angry and stubborn intelligent devices that did what they thought was best instead of listening to their user. I believe, like Norman, that the future of technology is assisted-devices that help us do things easier for ourselves. So, instead of doing the task for us, it allows us to do the task safely and more efficiently. In this way, humans always have a say on whether the task should be done or not, we have more control over the outcome and the procedure, and we can stop at anytime, always overriding the machine.