Cartography seems to have some parallels with HCI, and its modern twist, interaction design. Both disciplines are interested in how information is disseminated, passed, parsed and used, and this book takes a cognitive approach to understanding. It doesn't stop at when the information is understood, but is interested in how that information will be used, for what purpose, and under what conditions (and then taking that learning and changing the design accordingly).The problem of usefulness has plagued computing as a human activity for its entire history. Users are frequently constructed as inefficient components of an otherwise smoothly running program. Delays and unused gestures are seen as waste, something to be overcome. The system only runs well when the users understands instantaneously, without thought. The interface, like the map, is seen as a necessary embarrassment, an admission that there's dirt within the system, impurity.
But what if maps are not representations but contexts for stories to play out? Not so much in the sense of Brenda Laurel's notion of "computers as theater", but in postmodernist, "happening" sort of way.
Posted by johndan at October 27, 2003 09:25 AM
| TrackBack