Augmentation: "Importance of Human Computer Interaction" by Christopher Tillman Neal

As the Space Shuttle Discovery made its last descent to Earth on Wednesday March 9, 2011, I could not help but reflect on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, which occurred on Tuesday, January 28, 1986. What led to that tragic disaster was an O-ring failure, caused by a breach in the SRB joint it sealed; allowing pressurized hot gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside and impinge upon the adjacent SRB attachment hardware and external fuel tank....

Earlier in history, Douglas Englebart and J.C.R Licklider were part of a grassroots movement that led to the design and evolution of mind-amplifying machinery, which is significant because at that moment in time, the world saw computing as a means solely for scientific computation, business data processing and military defense. Consequently, however normal science has historically had the propensity to create esoteric communities that are not "open source" friendly, and I argue there are consequences for taking such a linear approach to scientific discovery. As mentioned earlier, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster is a profound example of a tightly knit enclave of scientists who failed to act, which is attributed to the disconnect between NASA's engineers and executives. American physicist, Richard Feynman highlights the failings of NASA's engineers and executives in his book What Do You Care What Other People Think?

Nevertheless, human computer interaction is crucial, because "poorly designed" human-machine interfaces can lead to many unexpected problems like the Challenger disaster. Through HCI I believe our minds are amplified through the intersection of computer science, sociology, and design. Equally important is that HCI can improve the interactions "between users and computers" by making computers more usable and receptive to the user's needs.

History is a great teacher, and as the US Space Shuttle Discovery made its way to the Smithsonian Institute, I hope this moved us as citizens to open up our eyes to the importance of HCI and user experience. Coupled with how it can minimize the barrier between the human's cognitive model of what they want to accomplish and the computer's understanding of the user's task.

About the Author:

Christopher Tillman Neal is a detail-oriented IT professional with 7+ years of experience. He is driven by the sociology of computer-mediated communication—skilled at operating in a wide range of platforms. Graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, Christopher has a diverse career portfolio, which consists of social media analytics, information technology, sales, marketing, and project management. Christopher received rigorous virtual community and social media training from Berkeley, and Stanford Professor Howard Rheingold who is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the social implications of technology.