Taming HAL: Designing Interfaces Beyond 2001 [Hardcover]

Asaf Degani (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 17, 2004

Machines dominate our lives, from alarm clocks that wake us up in the morning to radios that lull us to sleep. Most of our interactions with automated machines and computers are problem-free, but more often than we would like, they can be irritating and confusing. This is frequently harmless, such as a VCR recording the wrong show, but when it involves a critical system like an autopilot or medical device it can be a matter of life or death. Taming HAL seeks to explain these miscommunications between humans and machines by exploring user interfaces of everyday devices. Degani examines thirty different systems for human use, including watches, consumer electronic products, Internet applications, cars, medical equipment, navigation systems onboard cruise ships, and autopilots of commercial aircraft. Readers will discover why interfaces between people and machines all too often do not work and what needs to be done to avoid potential tragedies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An entertaining and thought-provoking text on problems with many existing machine interfaces, from simple lamps to complex aircraft displays. Using the dangerous malfunction of the computer HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey as a stepping-off point, Degani clearly delineates the differences between machine and human models of tasks and processes, points out where communication disconnects can occur, and describes design solutions to prevent such errors...of interest to educated lay readers as well as engineers and aviators."--Library Journal
"Asaf Degani is one of the leading experts on the impact of computer automation on human beings. In Taming Hal, he has written a book that is full of clear and cogent examples that show why automation can frequently bewilder, frustrate, and sometimes even harm us--from the frustrations caused by VCRs to the tragic shooting down of 269 people on Korean Airlines 007. Even more importantly, he provides solutions by showing how automation could be designed to serve our human needs and capabilities, thereby improving the quality of all of our lives."--Kim J. Vicente, Professor of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, and author of The Human Factor: Revolutionizing the Way People Live With Technology
"Automation is no longer an esoteric buzzword for the scientific community, but is now a common attribute of most everyday products and environments. This book provides a riveting account of how automation influences our daily lives and demonstrates why some automated systems produce undesirable human experiences, from minor inconveniences to human tragedy. Degani has produced the most comprehensive automation resource to date, and has masterfully afforded casual readers, students, and professional automation researchers and designers alike with a new found ability to understand, model and solve automation design problems."--Dr. Anthony D. Andre, Founding Principal of Interface Analysis Associates and Adjunct Professor of Human Factors/Ergonomics, San Jose State University
"Degani makes a number of critical points about human-system interface
design, and does it with a light, easy-to-read manner with
compelling examples."-- Thomas B. Sheridan, Emeritus Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
"Degani has a wonderful knack for making complex topics simple. This book is a wonderful start for all those who wish to understand the complexities of everyday technology. Along the way, we finally understand how a Korean airliner could have strayed so much that the Soviets shot it down, thinking it a spy plane, how an over-intelligent navigation system led a cruise ship to run aground, and even why the alarm clock so carefully set the night before fails in the morning."-- Don Norman, Nielsen Norman Group, Author of Emotional Design and The Design of Everyday Things

About the Author

Asaf Degani is a research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Tech and is on advisory boards of several start-up companies. Degani lives in Palo Alto, C.A.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (January 17, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031229574X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312295745
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #566,618 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An instructive read, April 11, 2004

By 

Marissa Carter (Cody, WY, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taming HAL: Designing Interfaces Beyond 2001 (Hardcover)

Personally, I have found on many instances, a baffling logic concerning the way machine-human interfaces operate, thus it came as a pleasant surprise to read Asaf Degani's book: Taming HAL. Starting with relatively simple devices, such as portable phones and bedside alarms, Dr. Degani walks us through the logical pathways that we expect, what the designer created, and ultimately how the machine behaves when interacting with the user. The result, often, is not a pretty picture: unexpected outcomes.

Yet, as Degani points out, many of these systems had flawed logic rules built into them by designers that neglected predominate stereotypical or cultural mores that most individuals expect of how systems should operate. Moreover, the presentation of machine modes frequently beguiles the user into thinking the device is operating in one fashion, whereas in reality it is functioning in another. Using logic diagrams, Degani analyses a variety of simple and complex systems and demonstrates that the end-result can range from the annoying to the deadly.

Some of the case studies will astound the reader: for example, the grounding of the luxury cruise liner Royal Majesty on the shoals of Nantucket. However, these bizarre tales become more comprehensible when one sees that the professionals entrusted with operation of the vessels in question failed to understand the true nature of the automatic systems that were supposed to guide and assist them. Understandably, Degani focuses much attention on aircraft systems (his specialty), and I would have liked to see more examples in the medical and computer fields, but the book contains extremely useful information to both laypersons and professionals alike, and is a great read.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taming more than just HAL, January 28, 2004

By 

Leonid Shklar (Alameda, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taming HAL: Designing Interfaces Beyond 2001 (Hardcover)

I have finished reading TAMING HAL and here's a short description of my experience: The book is well-structured--from simple examples to greater generalizations, with very smooth transitions. Secondly, it is very well written, with some passages providing more excitement and suspense than an average Tom Clancy chapter. I definitely had a great time reading it and I feel that most people will do too. It is very easy to read and understand but very informative at the same time. The last chapter has a great collection of guidelines that are applicable in many technical areas beyond human-machine interface design. To sum up my reading of this book--I learned a lot and enjoyed it greatly.

Leonid Shklar