Introducing the principle of graceful error recovery to state government
A North Carolina State Representative just accidentally overrode a veto on “fracking” due to being tired and pressing the wrong button during the vote. Apparently, they aren’t allowed to change their...
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Everyday Automation: Auto-correct
This humorous NYT article discusses the foibles of auto-correct on computers and phones. Auto-correct, a more advanced type of the old spell checker, is a type of automation. We’ve discussed...
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Prescription Smartphone Apps
I recently published a study (conducted last year) on automation trust and dependence. In that study, we pseudo-wizard-of-oz’ed a smartphone app that would help diabetics manage their condition. We...
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App Usability Evaluations for the Mental Health Field
We’ve posted before on usability evaluations of iPads and apps for academics (e.g.,here, and here), but today I’d like to point to a blog dedicated to evaluating apps for mental health professionals....
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Usability process not used for ACA website
A recently released report, done in March 2013, reveals the process of creating Healthcare.gov. Hindsight is always 20/20, but we’ve also worked hard to establish best practices for considering both...
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Worst Mobile Interface Ever
I was reading articles the other day and came across a site that, as many do, reformatted for my phone. Almost all reformatted-for-mobile sites are terrible, but this one is my favorite. You cannot...
View ArticleRadio interview with Rich
Our own Rich Pak was interviewed by the Clemson radio show “Your Day.” here. They cover everything from the birth of human factors psychology to the design of prospective memory aids for older adults....
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Treemap sighting in the wild: U.S. Budget proposal
I get pretty excited when I see my favorite infovis being used: The Treemap Just released today – the proposed U.S. budget as a treemap! So, how well did this visualization work for its intended...
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Thoughtful and Fun Interfaces in the Reykjavik City Museum
I stopped over in Iceland on the way to a conference and popped in to the Reykjavik City Museum, not knowing what I’d find. I love the idea of technology in a museum, but I’m usually disappointed....
View ArticleDesigning the technology of ‘Blade Runner 2049’
The original Bladerunner is my favorite movie and can be credited as sparking my interest in human-technology/human-autonomy interactions. The sequel is fantastic if you have not seen it (I’ve seen it...
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Did a User Interface Kill 10 Navy Sailors?
I chose a provocative title for this post after reading the report on what caused the wreck of the USS John McCain in August of 2017. A summary of the accident is that the USS John McCain was in...
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‘Mom, are we going to die today? Why won’t you answer me?’ – False Nuclear...
Image from the New York Times The morning of January 13th, people in Hawaii received a false alarm that the island was under nuclear attack. One of the messages people received was via cell phones and...
View ArticleHawaii False Alarm: The story that keeps on giving
Right after the Hawaii false nuclear alarm, I posted about how the user interface seemed to contribute to the error. At the time, sources were reporting it as a “dropdown” menu. Well, that wasn’t...
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Third Edition of Designing for Older Adults
The third edition of the definitive source for information for designing for older adults has been published: This new edition provides easily accessible and usable guidelines for practitioners in the...
View ArticleIt’s like having 10 different remote controls for 10 different TVs
This NPR interview with Danielle Ofri, author of a new book on medical errors (and their prevention), had some interesting insight into how human factors play out during a pandemic. Her new book is...
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