The Design of Future Things, Chapter 6

The Design of Future Things, Chapter 6
by Donald A. Norman

     The sixth chapter of The Design of Future Things is the last chapter in the book that gives design suggestions. The final topic that Norman addresses is the issue of proper feedback. Feedback is essential to inform the user what is happening with a device, if it was successful or not, and what the user should do next. With completely autonomous devices in the future, it is even a bigger mystery to normal consumers as to how a device works or why it's doing what it's doing. Proper feedback can ensure that new user can understand and adapt easily to the new technology. Norman lists six reasons that feedback is important: reassurance, process reports and time estimates, learning, special circumstances, confirmation, and governing expectations.
    An issue with new technology is that the feedback is arbitrary. A red light might turn on on the surface of the device, or it may start emitting a loud beeping sound, but what does that mean? Usually the user can't figure out what these forms of feedback mean without either using the device for a long time or reading the manual. Norman, as he has in earlier chapters, emphasizes that the feedback should come naturally from the mechanics of the device. For example, early cars didn't have power steering and so the driver could feel the road, and adjust accordingly. Whenever power steering was introduced, drivers had problems and didn't feel safe because they couldn't feel the road anymore. So, artificial feedback in the form of rumblings and bumps like driving before power steering is now introduced so the user can have feedback. This is much more effective than if car manufacturers installed special lights or beeping to try to give the same feedback.
    In the end of the chapter, Norman summarizes his design advice for the creation of future systems and machines:

1. Provide rich, complex and natural signals.
2. Be predictable.
3. Provide a good conceptual model.
4. Make the output understandable.
5. Provide continual awareness, without annoyance.
6. Exploit natural mappings to make interaction understandable and effective.

He finishes by explaining that most of the technology that he mentions in the book is far from being realized; the most important thing that must be overcome is the lack of intelligent communication between machines and humans, and the lack of common ground.

     While this chapter (and most the chapters in the book) seems to cover material he already talked about, Norman does a good job summarizing his design rules for feedback and communication between devices. I agree that the beeps and lights on our devices today are pretty arbitrary and wouldn't make sense to a new user. But, not everything that we use has a way of natural feedback. For example, the microwave makes a little bit of noise whenever it's cooking, but with the TV on sitting on the couch, I wouldn't hear the over turn off without the signature beep. I don't think the issue is that all feedback should be natural and exactly related to the operation it is happening, but instead that we need to give users more education and get them used to the feedback that we will be giving them. It isn't arbitrary if you have learned to associate a light or sound with a particular state that the device is in. And a national or world standard on colors and sounds with appliances would help because the user would only have to learn to paradigm once and it would apply to all of their devices.