Perception & Illusions: the Moon.

Shouldn't those be the same? An illusion is nothing more than a perception gone wrong. Maybe the most important part is that you will have to discover that your perception is wrong! Otherwise how would you know that what you saw (heard, et cetera) was an illusion?

Ever thought about the moon as an illusion?
No, don't get me wrong, I do not state that the moon is an illusion, no, it does exist, and we do see it, and it's there (at least, I believe it is, since personally I've never been there).
So how can the moon be an illusion?

When you look up at the sky, and there's a moon visible, you'll experience a yellow disc, far away. But if you see the moon somewhere at the horizon, you will see a larger disc. It still is far away, but it seems bigger. That could be the illusion?
In fact, it isn't. The illusions is when you see it up in the sky. At the horizon you see it in its full glory, full size, the real size. Up in the sky? Well, your brain knows that it is far away, very far away, and to experience that, and with no clues (as you have when you see it on the horizon) about its actual size, the brain makes it smaller than it really is.

So the illusion is not what you perceive. What you perceive is correct, there is a moon, and it's far, far away, unreachable for an average person. But, in order to perceive that, you brain delivers an illusion, a smaller moon.


for further explanation: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/20jun_moonillusion.htm

perception & safety again

In Dutch newspapers we find lately quite a lot of news about dogs, mostly about agressive dogs. In Belgium several children are wounded, one even deadly. In Great Brittain also several children are wounded quite seriously. In the Netherlands, apparently there are several regions you don't wanna go for a walk, several cities and villages where it is very unwise to let your children play outside.

So what's the matter here? Are dogs becoming more agressive? Are agressive dogs becoming more popular? Are agressive dogs becoming a 'hot' topic? Are newspaper taken over by 'cat-people'?
How do we perceive dogs? Are we becoming more cautious? And why? The answer: based on what we read, hear and see. Since the dog-news now is appearing on television it apparently is getting a serious problem? Or is it not? And how do we know?

Most crazy article did I read this morning (in "Dagblad van het Noorden" a regional newspaper): "Dogowners often do not know what risks he's taking". The advice is take assurance. Yeah, that does help those children, doesn't it?

Usability and Perception (2)

Usability is still a good thing, and it still is not the same as functionality, but usually when the functionality is well designed a product is easier to use, so we spent a lot of time on the right functionality. But is it wise to do so? Always?

Let’s start with a few examples where usability gets in the way of the product. When I am asked to take a look at a game to improve its usability, what should I do? In a shoot-em-up I could introduce a “Kill All Opponents-button”. Wow, end of game with the highest functionality possible! Or could I come up with an inpenetretable vehicle, some super tank, with an arsenal of weapons, an never-ending powersupply, a.s.o. But where would that leave the game?
A racing game with a super-car, that also has a super automatic pilot, so after a test-lap it would know all perks of the track. In the race I could put my hands behind my head, lean back, and win the race. Wow that would be fun, wouldn’t it?

Hey, what am I telling you here? Usability isn’t such a good idea? Hmm, let’s take a look at another example, because what do people when they can choose freely between a functional and a less functional design?

I live in the Netherlands, which is a bike-country. Lots of people even have more than one bike. One for daily use, one for their free time, weekends, sport, a.s.o. Children cycle to and from school, many employees cycle to their places of work. I go to the station by bike, take a train, and at the end walk to my place of work. When my place of work is moved further away from the station, I will decide whether I will buy a second bike to use in Leeuwarden or a folding bike that I can take with me in the train. And I surely are no exception.

Consider the case that somebody goes from home to work each day by bike, and he or she has to cycle a distance of about 10 kilometers. There are two routes to choose from. One is more or less a straight line, along a highway, it is the shortest way, just under 10 kilometers. The other is on the other side of the same highway, it is little longer because it meanders a bit, passing some trees and bushes, partly around a small lake, a.s.o. Although it is over 12 kilometers long, most people would prefer that for their daily route. Maybe not on a Monday-morning when they overslept, but in general they would prefer the longer route.

Why do people do such things? The answer is simple: because they prefer it. This is very important: People prefer what they like! Seems like kicking in an open door, doesn’t it? Yeah, sure. Then why are not all products designed that way?

Usability and Perception

Is usability a good thing? Quite a question, since this has been the focus of my profession for so many years. It is one of the most important aspects for me as an Interaction Designer. I do like the puzzling involved, the satisfaction when I succeed in combining apparently conflicting elements, especially when in the end people just liked to use my interface.

Unfortunately there always seemed to be a discrepancy between functionality and usability that I never could could lay my finger on. I value the opinions of Jacob Nielsen, I liked to read his books, every two week I read his column with a lot of interest. (subscribe to Jacob's column: the Alertbox at http://www.useit.com)

You probably know that feeling that something is missing and you can't see it, like it's just around some corner in your mind. Strangely enough -with my fascination for perception- I just missed the influence of perception on usability!

Actually there are two kinds of usability, ‘Usability’ (normal or 'straight' usability) and 'Perceived Usability'. And there is a big difference between the two of them. For instance, users are less likely to use an interface which usability is not perceived, compared to an interface where it is. And please note that this does not say anything about the real usability of the interface!

I used to play Roland Synthesizers (I also played others but I do prefer Roland, I like their sound). At one point, at the institute I was working for, I used a quite complex instrument with lots of possibilities, a great sound. I was very much in love with its sound and wanted to buy one for myself. Unfortunately I did not have the money at that time, and afterwards it was too late, they did not make them anymore, it did not sell, because it looked too complex.

You have to understand that a synthersizer is a complex instrument, especially when you can put several layers of sound onto each other. You have to program each layer separately, compare the result of each change, decide whether this is the sound you were looking for (usually not, at least not in the first try), and then you have to decide what to change in what layer, and so on.
Life for a synthesizer-player is so much easier when you have an overview of the settings in each layer. Otherwise it is like planning a complex route on a map, with only one eye, looking through a small tube.

Unfortunately it did sell bad: too many knobs and sliders and things. The next generation synthesizer did have an 'alpha-wheel' and a small screen. It was very hard to use, but it did look simple. So it sold much better. So much for perceived usability!

The perception of Safety

To start with: sorry!
I couldn't imagine what the start of the new academic year would be like! Many changes here, new colleagues who trust me to know everything (I don't), new students, old students, old cases that pop up. This year I also teach first-year students, which is strange, because it means I have to train them to do things in certain ways, while next year I have to tell them to forget I ever said so.... On the other hand I can look into buzz-marketing and viral-marketing, subjects that fascinate me.

Recently I talked with some students about decision making, and how hard it is for us to dedice rationally. All decisions we make seem to be emotional decisions.
Even when we buy expensive objects, our final decision is emotional. If you happen not ot believe me, look at the stats: Last year the sale of cabriolet cars went up about 15%. In the Netherlands..... That small country where it rains every other day. Very rational, huh....

Even more illustrative is our perception of safety. Most people I know drive a car (except me, I even don't have a license). Everybody is happy that cars are so much safer to day, with airbags, ABS and stuff like that. "Every airbag enhances the safety of the vehicle."
But does it?

The safest car I can imagine would be a car that never would be in an accident. You have to agree on that, don't you?
So which car is hardly ever involved in an accident, and which car is at the top of the list?
Well, I am afraid that at the top of the list are cars that do have airbags as wel as ABS, underneath that are cars that have either airbags or ABS....
Apparently all those systems make us go faster a little bit.
So, in fact, all those systems that are meant to make us safer, actually are the source of more accidents.
So which cars in fact are the safest? Well, one that was hardly ever involved in an accident was the Citroën 2CV (Citroen Deux-Chevaux, 'the tin snail', 'the duck' or 'the ugly duck').

People who ever drove one, will agree they never had an accident with it. Why? Well, you watch out, because it is a cute car, but you definitely don't want to be in an accident with it! So you go in lengths ot prevent it. You take your own responsability, instead of letting the car do that for you!

Does this have to do anything with decision making? Oh yes. If we argue rationally, we discovered that car which is perceived as being unsafe, in fact is the safest car. So what if we enhance that fact, and substitute the airbag at the driver seat with a steel pin? It would be there, waiting for you from behind the steering wheel, pointing at you. And you wouldn't be in any accident, would you? Which is very very safe.
Rational people would vote for a political party, that would promote binding installation of such a pin, in every car.
Sometimes I actually think it would be better if wouldn't base our decisions on emotional reasons. Apparently we are a sentimental lot.

Back

I don't know what's the problem, but for the last ten minutes I have been trying to type "I am back" as a title. As soon as I use the spacebar, all I had typed changes to questionmarks (? ?? ???? as a title doesn't seem appropriate)
I was hoping this type of problems should be fixed by now, partly because I wasn't feeling too well towards the holidays (been too busy too long..... and I hoped it just was me, causing the problems). So I hoped for a fresh start with regular postings (at least once a week). This type of problems doesn't help.
Well I see what can be done, maybe copy & paste will do the trick. We'll see.
CU soon!

troubles

I am not sure about the reason, but the last few posts didn't get through. I don't know why, but it sure isn't motivating.
Bit too busy at the moment, but I'll try again.
"Honor thy Errors as a Hidden Intention", hopefully my next subject.
This one did have a title: "Troubles", I wonder why.....