Donald Norman has a shot at mobile phones.
“But while we may relish the thought of all those wonderful technologies and opportunities, let us also remember that these come at a cost. The cost is partially monetary, but more and more it is in human-measures: annoyance, irritation, and frustration. It is what makes us wish to throw away the technology even as we embrace it.”
He identifies 5 main problem areas:
“Technological—equipment that fails to work as advertised (“can you hear me now?”).
Poor usability design—“I know there is some way to do this, but I can’t figure out how”).
Lack of control—the telephone demands attention on its own terms, not when we wish it (I’m sorry, but I should probably answer this”).
Annoyance imposed upon others—all those around the users of the technology (overheard, personal conversations).
Safety while driving.”
The third and fourth items are some of the most interesting from a design point of view (the others are more technical problems). But the social-embeddedness of the technology hasn’t really been dealt with effectively at all.
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