Assignment 5-1 blog entry

In module two, the topics deal largely with a project’s lifecycle and how HCI can affect the process. In my personal experience at my current company, I have seen many different project outcomes. Typically though my company will wait to the last minute to get the IT department involved. An example would be our opening of a new plant which involved using data from a totally different system from an Italian company. The data was to then be implemented into our system and used to begin production at a new plant in Africa. To start out, the IT department was not even asked for a quick estimate for a project. After the project was already in the works and deals were signed, our department was asked for a budget to get the new plant up and running and to get the Italian system integrated with ours (to be done in an hour.) The budget was then taken by the executives and reduced by a certain percent to make it more to their liking. Since there was no proper planning, of course the project has gone way over budget and they are still struggling to make things work.

Another thing that I have learned over the years is that user resistance to change can be a large hindrance to a project. If you do not have the support of the upper management (the user’s bosses), getting a project implemented can be an uphill battle. One of my counter parts has seen a year’s worth of his work be flushed because he was not able to get the proper buy-in from the users. Unless and even when their bosses feel strongly about and enforces a project, it still may not be successful. An interesting side note to this is that I have noticed that this does seem to vary differently among cultures. In our Mexican plant, even with the language barrier, we have a much easier time putting projects into place. The managers there say it will be done and it is done.

In regards to dealing with other cultures for projects, another interesting issue that we have had deals with how people react with time lines differently. In our dealings with the Italian companies and their employees, it has sometimes been frustrating in that at least in our experiences, they have different views and priorities when it comes to time. Many times we were told that certain things would be done and information would be given and we would sometimes get nothing at all. I know this happens everywhere but in my experiences it has been much more prevalent in our dealings with several Italian companies and their employees.

Still another issue I have seen in different ways is the “Yes it will be done tomorrow!” issue. Tomorrow comes and again it is “Yes it will be done tomorrow!” In projects, people involved need to all be included in the plan and they need to all agree that it is a do-able plan. They then need to not be afraid to give the bad news when things are not going as they should be. If companies could find a way to always hear the truth, they would be much better off in the long run.

Assignment 4-1 Norman 1 Course Blog Entry

Norman’s book begins by giving all sorts of examples of bad designs. He makes note of a complicated phone system that had buttons that no one knew what they were for. It made me start thinking about all the issues I have had in the past with getting items to do as they should. Being in computer science, getting computers to do what I want has often been a challenge. I stopped and thought about the reasons why this happens so often. I think that in the field of technology, many people are intimidated by devices they cannot get to work in the first minute they use it. I also think that many engineers are very intelligent and capable of getting a product to do something but often fail to relate to the end user. They sometimes seem to be on a different plane of thought.

Norman also talks about the topic of natural mapping. Keeping buttons next to what they operate may seem like a simple and obvious idea but it is one that is frequently overlooked. Proper labeling and the use of pictures help keep things simple and more obvious to more people. The marking of the stove burners is one that would always get me. I still usually need to read their labels. Good design can allow people from different language speaking countries and of many levels of intelligence to be able to easily use a product.

Under the topic of memory, I particularly found coin examples interesting since I collected them a lot as a kid. I was always excited when I would get a Susan B. Anthony dollar in my change instead of a quarter. The exercise to pick out the correct Lincoln penny was also tougher than I thought and I looked at thousands of pennies as a kid. It just shows that people take a lot of things for granted. There are many details of design that will be missed and many that will be misunderstood.