Taming HAL Designing Interfaces Beyond 2001 Asaf Degani, 2004 New York: Palgrave Macmillan Tiffini W Canty ENGL 5181 April 16, 2013 Chapter 13

Review A Space Odyssey 2001 HAL 9000 Human like computer on space ship Discovery Artificial intelligence – it can think Representation of technological advancement Addresses questions about technology Inner workings are unknown Man has created a technology that it cannot control SparkNotes Editors. (n.d.). SparkNote on 2001: A Space Odyssey. Retrieved April 12, 2013, from Review

Taming HAL Taming Hall: Designing Interfaces Beyond 2001 Chapter 13 Setting the Scene Medium-sized commercial jet set to land at a midwestern airport Aircraft built in 1960’s (“older model,” p.177) Location of incident unknown Date of incident unknown Last of four day trip Pilot and co-pilot are sleep deprived Time: Midnight, Weather: Stormy (windy and wet) Pilots unable to see runway initially during descent (relying solely on instrument panel) Degani, A. (2004). Taming HAL: Designing interfaces beyond New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Figure The cockpit (showing the two control wheels and the instrument panels). The throttles are located in the center of the pedestal between the two control wheels. The white arrow on the right points to the flap handle and the arrow on the left points to the spoiler level. Photo courtesy of Bevin Shively. Degani, A. (2004). Taming HAL: Designing interfaces beyond New York: Palgrave Macmillan, p.178. Cockpit Controls Taming Hall: Designing Interfaces Beyond 2001, Chapter 13 continued…

Summary Taming Hall: Designing Interfaces Beyond 2001, Chapter 13 continued… Summary Seemingly ordinary flight Pilots follow Before Landing Checklist First two items accomplished Error with third item on checklist o Pilot hesitated in arming spoiler lever (suspend) o Gear doors must close first o Pilot forgot to arm spoiler Poor visibility required relying solely on instruments until out of clouds Pilot realizes his missed arming spoilers – must lower manually at touchdown Airplane “falls” to the ground when pilot manually arms spoilers, tail touching down before wheels

Before Landing Taming Hall: Designing Interfaces Beyond 2001, Chapter 13 continued… Figure 13.7 (a). The BEFORE LANDING checklist card and sequence. Degani, A. (2004). Taming HAL: Designing interfaces beyond New York: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 196.

Actual Sequence Taming Hall: Designing Interfaces Beyond 2001, Chapter 13 continued… Figure 13.7 (b). The actual sequence during the flight. Degani, A. (2004). Taming HAL: Designing interfaces beyond New York: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 197.

Taming Hall: Designing Interfaces Beyond 2001, Chapter 13 continued What went wrong? Comparison By the Book Actual Degani, A. (2004). Taming HAL: Designing interfaces beyond New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp

But Wait… Taming Hall: Designing Interfaces Beyond 2001, Chapter 13 continued… But wait… Landing an airplane is difficult – it is complicated while required a gentle hand The runway must be approached in a slow and steady manner Dragging out the touchdown should be avoided Spoilers are deployed at touchdown to counter the air flowing over the wings Failing to arm spoilers after touchdown alters how the wings and landing gear operate (bearing weight of the aircraft) o Ideal: Wings 20%, Landing Gear 80% o Sans Spoilers: Wings 70%, Landing Gear 30% Spoilers may be deployed automatically or manually Sensors in the aircraft nose signal spoilers at touchdown

But Wait… Taming Hall: Designing Interfaces Beyond 2001, Chapter 13 continued… But wait… continued… Figure Machine model of the automatic spoiler system. Unsafe event(s) may happen when there is an error in Step C (above) Error is not manual, not automatic Error is a disturbance Degani, A. (2004). Taming HAL: Designing interfaces beyond New York: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 191.

Issue Taming Hall: Designing Interfaces Beyond 2001, Chapter 13 continued… Issue at hand? Procedural Error Procedure: “…a unique sequence of actions, it is a recipe of sorts” A procedure illustrates those steps required to perform a task Indicates the beginning and end of a chain of events Cause of error: A flaw in the system design, a disconnect in synchronization

Implications Taming Hall: Designing Interfaces Beyond 2001, Chapter 13 continued… Implications for Creating User Documents When something goes wrong we have a habit of becoming preoccupied with one major problem Most accidents [errors] are often the result of several things One must account for o technical sophistication, o issues of human performance, and o the complexity of several simultaneous processes when designing documents It is difficult to always account for the required synchronization of invisible actions but one must attempt to address at all times Avoid Band-Aids – using words instead of making a design/interface change Do not assume users will always follow procedures and instructions