From the monthly archives:

January 2008

Welcoming the Fireproof Elevator

by Anne McLaughlin

NPR ran a story earlier this week on an intriguing new human factors problem: fire-safe elevators.
The fall of the World Trade Center made it painfully obvious that stairs in skyscrapers do not function adequately in emergencies. We’ve always been warned away from elevators in case of fire, and I would go so far as to say it part of our [...]

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Tufte on the iPhone

by Anne McLaughlin

Praise and suggestions from Edward Tufte on the iPhone.
Look for a not unexpected shot at Powerpoint at about the halfway point.
(There seems to be no way to embed the video, so please visit the official site to view.)

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Electronic voting machines and misconceptions…

by Richard Pak

There was a report on electronic voting irregularities in South Carolina (during the Republican primaries last week) this morning on NPR.  The person that was interviewed,a representative of the State Election Commission, naively stated that the machines were fine, but it was the users who were not following operating procedures. Here is a quote:
“Any voting system is dependent [...]

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‘Mind-reading’ car keeps drivers focused

by Richard Pak

A “smart” dashboard that reduces the amount of information displayed to drivers during stressful periods on the road could be available in just five years, say German engineers.
A team from the Technical University of Berlin found they could improve reaction times in real driving conditions by monitoring drivers’ brains and reducing distractions during periods of high brain activity.
They were able [...]

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Surgeons Hone Skills on Nintendo Wii

by Richard Pak

Improvements in simulator performance didn’t come from just any Wii (see image), or any game. Marble Mania is good, for example. Tennis (astonishingly fun to play on the Wii, which uses a motion-sensitive wireless control) isn’t so helpful. “The key is to have subtle hand movements,” Kanav Kahol one of the authors of the study, told the Health Blog. “You [...]

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Automation, Consumer Products, and Energy Usage

by Richard Pak

Interesting article on the use of automated decision aids on consumer devices. The researchers used a vacuum cleaner that indicated when an area needed more cleaning or not. They wanted to determine if users would use less energy if they were told that an area was clean. They found that energy consumption was not reduced. This [...]

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50th Anniversary of the Eames Lounge Chair

by Richard Pak

The chair has three upholstered pieces, each attached to a curved plywood shell. The larger one is the seat; the smaller two are back supports. All three are strategically angled to maximize your comfort. Charles and Ray Eames, the husband-and-wife design team behind the chair, had a remarkable understanding of ergonomic principles long before these were developed into a science [...]

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“Continuous partial attention” vs. Multi-tasking

by Richard Pak

Continuous partial attention is an always on, anywhere, anytime, any place behavior that creates an artificial sense of crisis. We are always in high alert. We reach to keep a top priority in focus, while, at the same time, scanning the periphery to see if we are missing other opportunities, and if we are, our very fickle attention shifts focus. [...]

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Too much trust in automation…

by Richard Pak

 Wonder if he was distracted (being in a rental car) and was not able to pay attention to his surroundings while using GPS.  Not much detail in the story.
BEDFORD HILLS, N.Y. – A Global Positioning System can tell a driver a lot of things — but apparently not when a train is coming. A computer consultant driving a rental car [...]

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USNews Best Careers in 2008: User experience specialist

by Richard Pak

Usability specialists make sure that products, especially technical ones, are easy and pleasurable to use. How? First, they observe and interview potential users to identify their needs and preferences. After a prototype is developed, they watch and interview potential users again and suggest revisions. Not surprisingly, the job outlook for usability specialists is strong. The number of new, complex products [...]

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