“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Arthur C. Clark
Working in technology, we often work to create a kind of magic. Instant global communication, navigation, shopping and entertainment all in the palm of your hand. The product today were available only in science fiction just a short time ago – from the video phone in the Jetson’s to the communicators in Star Trek.
Two presentations at Interaction 11 made me think more about the magic we make. Bill Verplank’s presentation included the idea of designing a system as a path or a map. In a path style system, the mechanisms of how the system work are hidden. For example, in a drink vending machine, you make your selection and the beverage appears. However, a map style system reveals the inner details of the system. A candy machine shows rows of items and when you make your selection you see the metal rod turn to advance the item to be delivered. Path style systems are usually efficient while map style systems make you stop to think.
In another session, Lindsay Moore and Austin Brown presented “Human-centered design at the intersection of physical and digital worlds”. One of the examples they presented was the design of a system to control your thermostat from a mobile phone. Their concept was to inform people that the system would not warm up right away – that it needed to be set in advance to have it reach the right temperature when it was wanted. In Verplank’s language, that would be a map style system, revealing how the system works.
As for me, I appreciate the work that Carrier did to ensure I don’t have to think about how my thermostat works. You set it for a certain temperature at a certain time and it determines how to run to ensure that is achieved; a path system.
Which model you use for your next design depends a lot on your intended customer and their goals. Some people like to tinker and want to know the details of how things work. However, it is my guess that most people want things to just work easily most of the time. Most people want to experience a bit of magic in the products they use.
What do you think about the Path vs. Map way of describing designs? Is this a choice you make explicitly in your work? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment.
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