Instruction
1) The idea of the useless machine was first conceived by the pioneer of artificial intelligence, Marvin Minsky, in the early 1950s with a single function: to power itself off as soon as it is powered on. What can the useless machine teach us about the paradoxical relationship between slavish adherence to one’s operating instructions and the refusal to carry out one’s marching orders? Do you read the useless machine as defiant, playful, intelligent, or obedient? What does Mark O’Connell’s article “The Useless Machine” reveal to us about our own lives? Of what other paradoxes does the useless machines remind you?
2) What, according to Donald Norman, is it about “human-centered design” (HCD) that makes it distinct from the process humans have used in the past to innovate or develop new technologies or tools? As an example, could arrowheads, harpoon points, bone needles, or other tools be considered HCD? Why or why not?
3) What, in your opinion, is the impact of poorly designed objects, interfaces, technologies, and built environments on people? Provide examples of poorly designed things, in everyday life, that Donald Norman describes in “Psychopathology of Everyday Things” (POET). What is one poorly designed object, technology, interface, or feature of a built environment which Norman does not mention, that negatively impacts your everyday life?
4) Listen to Roman Mars’ podcast “Unpleasant Design & Hostile Urban Architecture” and read Alex Andreou’s “Defensive Architecture” and Robert Rosenberger’s “How Cities Use Design to Drive Homeless People Away.” What are the traits of hostile design? What values, ethics, beliefs, or ideologies does hostile design reflect? What does hostile design suggest about how people do relate or should relate to one another in public spaces?