SupWriter vs Walter Writes

My grandfather was trying to book a medical appointment. I saw him struggle with that and that’s when I got interested in HCI. He could have easily found the information he needed but everything was in very small text, menus were confusing, and error messages were vague. I sat down next to him, assisted him in completing the booking, but it stuck with me. A lot of people say technology is making life easier. I seek to learn why name-calling has the opposite effect sometimes, and how to change that.

I am interested in human-computer interaction because it combines technical problems and focusing on people. A system may be fast and reliable but can fail if the user cannot understand it or trust it. I am curious about the decisions made behind that experience: how designers learn users’ needs, how they stress assumptions, and how they balance accessibility, privacy and simplicity. I wish to explore the ways to observe everyday disappointments to come up with better-products.

Accessibility is my area of interest. My grandfather's experience demonstrated to me that a design decision that seems trivial or insignificant to one person could be the determining factor in another person's ability to use that service. Studying human-computer interaction would help involve people from various capabilities, backgrounds, and digital confidence in the design process. I hope to improve how I listen before suggesting solutions, and how I judge whether those solutions work outside the classroom or lab.

I like the creative aspect of the field too. When working on an interface, you ask questions, try things and, when evidence counteracts your original plan, change it. I like the process because when I make a mistake I will use this as a reason to learn and not stop.

My hope is to study HCI to help build technology that treats the people who use it with respect. I seek to improve digital experiences making them clearer and more inclusive, whether working on healthcare services, educational tools, or products yet to be imagined. To me, success is my grandfather being able to complete an important task on his own, without asking for help; and feeling just as confident to do so again next time.

I got interested in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) after seeing my Grandfather have trouble to book a doctor's appointment using his computer. He was able to find all the information he needed; however, his eyesight was not good enough to read the fine print, and there were many "choices" to navigate through to get to where he wanted to go. On top of this, some of the "error messages" did not clearly tell him why the application failed, which made a simple task seem almost impossible.

He asked me to assist him in completing the appointment, and while I completed the appointment, the experience stuck with me.

People are continually told that technology makes their lives easier. While this may be true most times, there are many times when technology makes things difficult. And this is exactly what I want to understand – why technology fails us at times -- and how we can prevent this from happening.

I am drawn to HCI because it involves both the technical aspects of solving problems and understanding people. Just because a system works quickly and efficiently does not mean that it will always be successful. It may never succeed if no one understands it or trusts it. I want to know about the decision-making processes that lead to these user experiences. Specifically, I want to know how designers gather data about what users need, how they evaluate their own assumptions based upon data collected during usability testing, and how they weigh the importance of issues such as accessibility, privacy, and simplicity. Ultimately, I want to apply the methods used by researchers in HCI to take everyday complaints and turn them into better products.

Accessibility is something that I am particularly interested in. The fact that my Grandfather's frustration with using the web-based medical scheduling tool was due to something as seemingly inconsequential as font size demonstrated to me just how much a designer's decision regarding an element of the product can either allow or deny a potential customer access to the service. By studying HCI I believe that I can develop my ability to include users with disabilities, users with limited backgrounds and/or little exposure to digital systems within the entire design cycle. Furthermore, I want to improve my ability to listen before making recommendations and to assess whether the solution proposed is effective beyond the confines of a classroom or laboratory setting.

In addition to the analytical nature of HCI, I also appreciate the creative aspect of this discipline. Designing interfaces requires questioning what is working and what needs to be changed. In addition, designing interfaces requires developing ideas, and having the willingness to abandon ideas when data contradicts your original intent. This process resonates with me because it views errors as learning opportunities as opposed to a reason to discontinue development efforts.

Ultimately, I hope that my studies in HCI will enable me to create technology that acknowledges people who depend on technology. Regardless of whether I contribute toward creating tools for medical services, educational platforms or applications I have not thought of yet; I want to create more accessible and understandable digital experiences.