Ubiquitous Computing

Donald Norman in his book touches an interesting subject of Ubiquitous Computing. The term refers to calm technology. Technology that is everywhere and hardly visible. Technology that becomes virtually invisible in our lives.
Ubiquitous computing is about networked microprocessors embedded in everyday objects: not only cellphones and home appliances but also books, bookshelves, bus stops and bathtubs--all talking to each other over wireless links. Hundreds of internet-enabled computers per human being, none of them resembling a conventional keyboard-and-monitor machine.

Last month when attending a conference in Monterey I was impressed by a lecture on the ubiquitous computing. Imagine having an umbrella that has installed a microprocessor that changes the light of the handle depending on the weather forecast. If it’s going to rain the handle blinks in red giving you a silent sign: “take me, you will need me today”. Imagine a framed photo hanging in your living room filling with people whenever a new email arrives into your inbox.
The ubiquitous computing is already happening. A good example is the Coffee Robot that displays the time of the last brew, the availability, and the temperature of the coffee and reports it on a customized web page.

In his book Norman’s describes a perfect imaginary calendar that could easily replace an administrative assistant’s job. The calendar combines functions of address book, notepad, expense account systems record and it can connect itself to other systems via a wireless infrared or electromagnetic channel. Once information is entered or changed, it is always synchronized with other systems. In such device only the task is visible, the computer is hidden beneath the surface.

Taxonomy

I've conducted a few usability tests for our website. Whenever working on a new website design we would ask our students (I work at a university) to participate in a usability study. To get students attention 15 - 30 minutes of their free time, we had to give some incentive such as 5$ to 10$ gift certificate for the cafe. Our typical user was a graduate student, very busy and smart.

In our usability studies we found out that the main problem was TAXONOMY. We asked the students to accomplish specific task on our website. Some of the headings/ names would only make sense to us: staff. If the vocabulary was related to a specific environment/ industry and the user was not familiar with it this could create a potential problem. During the study, we noticed that as a staff we tend to classify and organize the knowledge under different categories than the students. What we found out was that our students would create different categories, or they would look for a specific task under different name. Because graduate students come from so different backgrounds the challenge is to create just one user profile that would match our average student.

After completing the study we had to revise our initial idea for the new navigation. We had to make new categories and change some names to be more understandable for a broader audience and for our students.

Knowing What To Do

Norman is making a good point about the use of sound to support visual information. On many occasions I would ring the door bell and wouldn’t hear the expected sound, just nothing, no sound. Does this ring door work? Probably not, so I knock on the door.
But as the sound supports and helps to understand what is happening in one situation, in another it might be annoying and unpleasant. I hate when cars make a loud beep while the door are being locked or their alarm system suddenly turns on without any particular reason. One night at 1.00 am I had to go to my good neighbor to ask him to turn his car alarm off. The alarm was on every 30 minutes without any reason making enormous noise.
Slips are made automatically. We don’t think about routinely done actions, unless we make mistake. I remember my friend running around the house looking for her wallet. Until, the next day she opened the fridge, and the wallet was there, on the shelf among her yogurt and cheese. She unconsciously unpacked her groceries a day before and as the wallet was in the bag it ended up in the fridge.
When my own morning routine get distracted I always forget to do something. The slips we make are the result from a lack of attention. My friend told that most of the time she doesn’t remember her driving from work, even though the road is quite long and winding. According to Norman (1988), “Everyday activities must usually be done relatively quickly, often simultaneously with other activities. Neither time nor mental resources may be available. As a result, everyday activities structure themselves so as to minimize conscious mental activity, which means they must minimize planning and mental computation (p.125).


References

Norman, D.(1988). The Design of Everyday Things. Basic Books.