HCI VISTAS, VOLUME-II, 2006-2007
	User's reality: The big truth of small things!   Dr. Dinesh S. Katre
About HCI VISTAS	INDEX	Article INS-7./Aug. 2006	<< >>
Figure 1. Here is a very interesting and intriguing experience I wish to share with you. My son, Paritosh, drew this sketch (Figure 1) when he was 4-5 years old. You can clearly see the drawing of cricket stumps. I instantly photographed it using my camera-phone. However, I am reporting these observations after a gap of 3 years. There are about 4/5 stumps in this drawing, as Pari (that is his nick name) had not learnt to count. What struck me most is that the stumps are shown up side down. The pointed conical tip of the stump should have been buried inside the ground or at least it should have been on the down side. Probably, I was thinking like a typical adult! I called him and explained the correct thing. He looked at me with great disbelief and fled away to play with his friends.   Two/three weeks passed. The boy made yet another drawing (Figure 2). This time he had improved. There were three stumps and the middle one appeared a bit shorter. But they were still up side down! The pointed conical tips of the stumps were still facing the sky! I again called him to explain the right thing. But Pari seemed quite unconvinced! It left me wondering and uneasy.   Figure 2. Some more days passed. I had just returned from office and was parking my car. Pari was playing cricket with his friends on the pavement in the parking space! What I saw was very surprising! As there being no soil but hard surface all around the building, the kids had to erect the cricket stumps up side down with some support! Look at the photograph below.   Figure 3. Pari was consistently true to his reality! This incidence teaches us that the reality can be so different to different people. We can apply the conclusion of this case-study in HCI as that being our central theme. When we design interfaces, we are quite authoritative and sure about how our design will be perceived by the users. Many times we think that we are correct and logical.   But the user's reality can be genuinely different and contrary to what we believe!   It reaffirms the relevance and importance of context study, user participation in design process, study of mental models and usability testing. There is no way out if you wish to capture and represent user's reality in design!   There are many interesting cases like this one, which I will share with you. It may be of interest to those involved in study of learning models and cognitive psychology of children. So look forward to it!   Feedback at Contribute Articles To
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Perspectives
I shared your article on "User's reality: The big truth of small things!" with our Director Mr. Sunder and this is what he has to say:   "I am fascinated by the drawings and your putting together of this piece. You have a fantastic sense of observation as well as an articulate expression of thought. Keep it up and convey our good wishes to pari." -Sundar   Manish Sinha Product Manager & Design Head Indiatimes.com Times of India, New Delhi
You brought out an important point in your article. Not surprisingly, the same applies to us adults also.   Just like the design of the stumps is to be embedded into the ground, it is assumed that the stumps would be used only with the pointed end in the ground. Your observation proves it that it can also be used the other way round, especially when the need of the moment warranted it.   Most of us put to use only around 40% of the capacity of the various software, especially the ones produced by Microsoft. We are used to or trained or cognize only those which fit our mental model just like the first photograph and we are happy with it as it meets our need of the moment. Once we observe someone else use the same software to churn out wonderful reports and graphics, we are surprised at the capability of the software and immediately either realize that we have only been using a fraction of the software, or feel dejected that we don't know anything. So in the true sense, these software does not have the capability to exhibit its full capabilities and its left to the imagination of the user to use it effectively. The stumps though had 'full' visibility of its functionality with all its features exposed but even then, the perception of its use differed from your son's view and your trained or re-cognized view.   With the advance in technology, and the increase in the interfaces that the human is forced to interact with, I am sure it would actually require a very intellect person to perceive all the possible features of a system. So in effect, it would only mean that the future of design is going to be very very hot for all the designers to think about this invisible region of the un-cognitive functionality of the systems around us and make it perceivable enough for us to use them effectively and efficiently.   Do keep writing, you sure are a thought provoker.   Vijay Bhaskar
Very very interesting! Doesn't this also bring forward the fact that tremendous insights are gained when we consider users who belong to the extremes of poplation represented in the 'bell curve'instead of concentrating on median or 50th percentile? Looking forward to seeing more of such examples from you as well as the group. Siddharth Dash AEP PD 1992 Mumbai