Government+Testing+of+Usability+and+Safety

=A Paper of Goverment Testing of Usability and Safety of Systems=

Computer systems are becoming more prevalent in society. Living as Canadians in Western society, we have become accustomed to placing trust in certain aspects of our lives. We go to the grocery store, purchase food, and eat it without thinking twice. We have grown accustomed to luxurious living and trust in our government - who monitors the food; and fellow citizens - who handle and care for the food.

As computers and technology grow more prevalent, our society would naturally expect the same level of trust and security surrounding the systems and products. In the case of safety and security I feel society should fund the testing and approving of the systems. But in the case of functionality and usability where it does not affect safety or security, the manufactures should take it upon themselves to produce a marketable product.

Presently, the government already funds studies to research the safety and security of new technology. Additionally, laws and legislation have already been put in place to ensure the public’s safety when using computer systems. Utilizing various design methods, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) designers already do an acceptable job to ensure public safety but government and publicly funded studies can help ensure a more thoroughly checked product and thus a more safe and reliable system. In HCI there are four major components: The user, the task, the context, and the system. To determine society’s role in funding and approving systems, only the first three components need to be addressed.

Some of the most noticeable HCI tools used in society are the various portable handheld devices like cell phones, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). The users of these products expand from children to the retired, both sexes, in any environment on earth. The tasks people hope to achieve while using these devices essentially fall under wireless communication albeit, telephone calls or email. The context of these devices range everywhere from an office, to a car, or an airplane. These devices aid society in many ways thanks to their usability. However, these same devices are dangerous to the public under special circumstances. Aches and pains, car accidents, and identity theft have become growing concerns among society. Because of these concerns the government funds research, conducts tests, and passes legislation to ensure the public’s safety and security.

Security can be of major concern for users when managing a wireless communication device. PDAs are capable of telephone calls, emails, and internet browsing. As stated above, society should fund tests and studies to ensure the public’s safety and security when using these systems. National Research Council Canada has taken noticed to the public’s concern and realized, "internet users are becoming more concerned about their privacy. In addition, various governments (most notably in Europe) are adopting strong privacy protection legislation" (Patrick & Kenny. 2003). Therefore the Canadian government has already actively pursued legislation to protect its citizens from internet technology. This legislation will in turn force the various companies and their respective HCI design teams to develop and test their products to ensure they meet the guidelines necessary to be approved for the general public.

The health and safety of people when using PDAs and cell phones have already been addressed by society. Cases of carpal tunnel syndrome, iPod finger, and Blackberry thumb have already been documented by the medical community. According to Dr. Stuart Hirsch, an orthopaedist at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey "No national statistics exist on how many people suffer from this type of thumb ailment, but some doctors say they are seeing an upswing in related cases" (Chang. 2005).

In retrospect, the ability for people to use the mini keyboards on these devices at rates quick enough to cause injury shows how remarkably usable the blackberries are. "Usability is broken down into the following goals: effective to use (effectiveness), efficient to use (efficiency), safe to use (safety), have good utility (utility), easy to learn (learnability), and easy to remember how to use (memorability)" (Preece, Rogers, & Sharp, 2002).

The blackberry accomplishes all these goals with the exception of safety. Effectiveness is accomplished through rapid transmission of information via wireless technology. Efficiency is accomplished through an easy to use miniature keyboard. Utility is found through the ability to call and receive calls, email, and use an internet browser. And finally learnability is accomplished via a standard keyboard in miniature form and an industry standard windows operating system installed on the PDA.

In respect to these usability goals, society should only focus funds in the testing for safety. Safety after all, is number one. Additionally, society should not aid large for profit corporations by helping them produce a more user friendly product. The public would not want their tax dollars used in this way. Designers of HCI devices need to be aware of the environmental factors affecting their products. A design cannot only encompass the product itself. Outside forces affect the user and the product and must be considered in the overall design.

Cell phone technology has come a long way from the old car phones that sat inside a car and didn’t move due to their enormous size and necessity to be plugged in. But these car phones spawned into cellular telephones that people continue to use while driving. HCI designers should consider the hazards people may encounter while using the cell phone. The usability may be fantastic even while driving at 120km/h while weaving through traffic, but how does it affect the user’s visual attention while driving? According to a study out of the University of Utah, "data suggests that the impairment of driving performance produced by cell phone conversations is mediated, at least in part, by reduced attention to visual inputs" (Strayer, Drews, & Johnston, 2003). As a result, designers have utilized bluetooth technology to create hands free cellular telephones. However, hands free cellular phones are in constant debate on whether or not they are less dangerous than normal cellular phones.

In response to studies funded both privately and publicly, various governments have taken action to protect the safety of the public. A news release by the government of Newfoundland and Labrador stated, "All House of Assembly members speaking in debate this week supported the government’s bill to ban the use of hand-held cell phones by drivers while driving" (News Release, 2002). This bill makes Newfoundland the first province in Canada to ban the use of cell phones while driving and indicated the government’s willingness to fund studies to determine the safety of products and their willingness to impose legislation to enforce safety measures.

When the matter involves the safety of the public, I feel society should have a hand in funding the research and the testing of computer systems. Our society works by protecting ourselves from ourselves. Society has already begun to address the prevailing nature of the computer industry and have taken steps to ensure the safety and security of the public is maintained. What I feel should be the number one consideration for HCI designers is the safety of the user. Without a safe product, usability, functionality, utility, and learnability become irrelevant. I feel any system that puts the user in harm’s way has poor Human Computer Interaction.

//Sources://

Chang, Alicia. (October 20, 2005). Blackberry Addicts Suffer Painful Thumb Injuries; Repetitive motion injuries nicknamed "BlackBerry Thumb" afflict users of BlackBerries, Treos, Sidekicks and other devices with miniature thumb keyboards. __Information Week__. Retrieved November 1, 2006, from [|http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=] [|EAIM&docId=A137766108&source=gale&srcprod=EAIM&userGroupName=utoronto_main&version=1.0]

__Digit Distress, aka iPod Finger__. (September 27, 2005). Retrieved November 1, 2006, from University of Miami School of Medicine, http://www.med.miami.edu/communications/som_news/index.asp?id=656Government

Services and Lands. (2002). __News Release__. Retrieved November 2, 2006, from [|http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2002/gsl/1122n08.htm__Musician__]

Related Skin Conditions. (2006). Retrieved November 2, 2006, from Arizona Health Sciences Library, http://www.ahsl.arizona.edu/about/ahslexhibits/musicianmedicalmaladies/maladies.cfmNational

Research Council Canada. (2003). __From Privacy Legislation to Interface Design: Implementing Information Privacy in Human- Computer Interactions__ (NRC 45787). Ottawa: Patrick, A. S., & Kenny, S.

Preece, Jennifer., Rogers, Yvonne., & Sharp, Helen., (2002). __Interaction Design__., New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Research In Motion., Ltd. (2006). __Blackberry 8703e__. Retrieved November 1, 2006, from http://www.discoverblackberry.com/devices/device-detail.jsp?navId=H0,C63,P204 Strayer, David L., Drews, Frank A., Johnston, William A., (2003). Cell Phone-Induced Failures of Visual Attention During Simulated Driving. __Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied__. Vol. 9, No. 1, 23-32.

//Notes:

I wrote this paper for CCT380. I have changed a few things to help this paper apply to this course. I felt the information contained in this paper applies to the information we are studying in this course, CCT333. I am not trying to pass this work off as original work created for CCT333 and thus commit academic dishonesty. All information on this page until edited by someone else is the work of Mike Ip. Basically, I don't wanna get in trouble! =( Have a super day!//