[Sigia-l] Do Make Me Think!

[Dave Chiu]

There were two things that I was thinking of when writing, and  
perhaps they got a bit muddled. Ziya originally said:

> How the user acquires this "know-how" becomes our domain.

On the one hand, I was wondering what exactly this "know-how"  
comprises: permanent or "on-demand" know-how.

On the other hand, I don't believe it really changes the situation  
vis a vis responsibility:

> i also feel that we're in an age where responsibility for  
> "everything" falls on the individual. well, how convenient is that?  
> doesn't that place the "blame" on someone else if it doesn't work?

IMO, designers currently have a responsibility to their users, just  
as doctors have a responsibility to their patients (although for  
designers there is no hippocratic oath). Just because the deliverable  
has changed, doesn't remove the designer's responsibility. Maybe, as  
Will pointed out, accountability is the missing piece which will  
bring this idea of responsibility into clearer relief, particularly  
with regards to where the boundaries lie when assigning responsibility.

I think what's maybe confusing me a little is that the examples that  
Ziya's quote provided are radically different, in my mind. Assembling  
IKEA furniture assumes a singular outcome for which you can provide  
comprehensive directions, and any failure by an individual to  
comprehend those instructions may be the responsibility of the  
instruction's designer. So I completely agree with you in this  
situation that designers cannot put the onus on the user, and  
accountability is clear (even if there are no ways to enforce it).

However, a trading system for the stock market has multiple outcomes:  
buy, sell, hold, short, limit, etc. How the designer manages and  
presents that information has an impact on the user, but it's a  
different kind of impact. And the lines of responsibility, I think,  
become a little more difficult to ascertain. Clearly, if you can't  
buy shares because you can't find the "buy" button, that's a design  
failure. But what prompted you to want to buy those shares in the  
first place, and how did the information presented by the system  
influence your decision? What's the role and responsibility of the  
designer in that situation regarding know-how? What's the designer's  
accountability?

Not to move off-topic, but I feel the need to point out that the  
success of the iPod doesn't lie solely in its industrial design.  
Rather, it's about systems integration: iTunes and the iPod provide a  
seamless and easy way to manage your music between you MP3 player and  
the computer. iTunes came first, the iPod shortly after, and the  
total package is what has led to what's perceived as the success of  
the iPod. Thus, the unmet needs weren't about the iPod as a device,  
but overall ease of use, i.e.: iTunes integration with iPod.

Wired has an interesting article (http://www.wired.com/news/mac/ 
0,2125,64286,00.html) about the birth of the iPod, which began with  
the idea to "take an MP3 player, build a Napster music sale service  
to complement it, and build a company around it."

dave