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RESEARCH PRODUCT

From Technology to the Human User

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When thinking of users, it is possible to look at them from a variety of perspectives. One essential way of considering users within the human–technology environment involves technical concepts. In this manner, we define what users should be able to do with a particular technical system. As such, there are tasks to accomplish and goals to reach by means of some technology, and therefore specific operations must be carried out in order to reach those goals or fulfill those tasks. For example, if someone wishes to buy boots from an eShop, it is necessary to get onto the Internet, find the eShop, find the boots, load them into a virtual shopping cart, and follow the process to check out. Savvy online shoppers can do this quite effortlessly. This example provides a perspective on human–technology that can be called technical. This view simply defines what it is that people need to do technically to successfully accomplish whatever it is that they want to do. Within this perspective, people are considered a subsystem of a particular technical system—actually, one of several subsystems that work together to accomplish an intended goal. And, like all of the subsystems, the human element needs to be seriously considered in planning how the technology will work, thus making it a necessary component of human–technology interaction. This represents a traditional perspective on the role of humans in the design of technology: If the interaction does not operate smoothly, no one will be able to reach the goal with that particular technology, and so the technology is useless. Therefore, a focus on the technical aspects of design is emphasized. However, recent developments in technology design, and in particular design for online services, have raised the discussion about extending or rethinking the traditional view on human–technology interaction. People cannot—and should not—be viewed only as extensions of machines, or as simply one more element in a complex technological system. Thus, significant and fundamental changes are required in the theory language that provides an alternative to the technology-based analysis. First, research has demonstrated clearly the reality that people cannot possibly do everything. The human mind is simply not capable of every potential process, and so machines can assist in many areas. However, even though the human can, generally speaking, succeed at a wide variety of functions, the success level of any given individual for any particular task is quite variable. For example, the interaction models that are commonly used are just too difficult