What's in the black box

mystery box closed
Originally uploaded by jbfbouchard

Usability experts Adaptive Path have a great blog that chronicles some of the issues they face in their field. I love reading it because usability is one of those topics that I find fascinating. How things work and why is one of those things that easy to learn but difficult to master.

A team at Adaptive Path went to rural India to understand how locals use mobile phones. I advise all to read it. What struck me most was that the West has a way of thinking that is related to our world and that thinking and iconography may not translate once we've left our collective "Westopia" shores.

It got me thinking about how abstracted we are from what we use. In India, the researchers noted that it is a very physical/mechanic universe. Things get reused and repurposed, meaning it can be hacked to suit the user. That is the way things USED to be back in the day but is far less true now.

Most modern cars and appliances in our home are so complex that it's impossible to repair things ourselves. That's great for the repair industry but it also decreases the attachment that we have to the things we buy.

I wonder if this is a trend that will continue or will we start to see more transparency. Such a movement is taking place with food; people increasingly want to know the source of their food. I only hope that spreads to other industries.