Post 1 - Technology as an experience (Joey Wong)
The reading I chose to write on is by Mccarthy & Wright. The reading was mainly focused on how technology has improved and grown to be more successful when they relate to human experiences. The reading started off with 3 short stories of how people are intertwined with technology and how technology has made them feel in their daily lives. They later talked about HCI and user experiences, how norman’s model of action lacked in the area of how people feel when using technology, users as a social actor and how emotional quality is important when creating and improving technology. They also wrote about how interaction with technology is now as much about what people feel as much as it is about what people do.
The authors wrote about how text messages can make one feel connected despite being physically apart from one another. In the next short story, the authors portrayed how the nurse felt that her patients are being taken away from her when she uses the system. This shows how that piece of technology has made the nurse feel as though the essence of her job was taken away from her -- being able to care for the patients. In the last short story, the father in the story used many pieces of technology, showing us how it is intertwined with his life and using a piece of technology, gaming, he is able to do what he love which is to spend time with his daughter. “Technology is deeply embedded in our ordinary everyday experiences”. I agree with the authors. As being someone who is born into the world in year 2000, I have never lived a day without technology and I have grown reliant on technology, just as I am typing this tumblr post with my computer. Especially during this time where the pandemic still lives amongst us, technology has played such a big part in helping us stay connected despite being physically apart. With the usage of video calls, we are able to be “in a lecture” without actually being in the lecture. As most parts of the world go into lockdown, our only mean to stay safe while staying connected is through technology be it through a phone call or through texts exchanges. I agree with the authors to a large extent that our interaction with technology can and has involved emotions, values, ideals, intentions and strong feelings. Using the example in the reading where the father press the record button such that he can replay the drama with his wife later on, the use of recording could help the husband to portray his love for his wife by recording her favourite tv series for her.
I agree to a small extent that successful technologies are those that are in harmony with users’ needs. It is true that technologies such as texting and phone calls are very successful due to the fact that it provides people with alternative ways of doing what they already love doing which is communicating. However, there are also technologies that people have hated using but yet they still need to use them, causing them to be successful. Using the example of the nurse, she did not like how the technology made her feel like her patients were bits of information but the technology is useful in helping the hospital keep in order and track of their vacancies. Personally, I am leaning towards agreeing with Mccarthy and Wright to a large extent in general. I will be using the example of texting to explain how technology has truly been embedded in our lives and how our interaction involves emotion. I personally use text messages a lot be it through Whatsapp or Telegram. Texting allows me to convey what I wish to say without having to be there physically. A lot of times I find myself being more capable of conveying my feelings through text messages rather than in real life when I have to face the particular receiver. With its constant update and improvement, personally for me I think that one reason why Telegram has remained successful is the use of “stickers”.
Here is a snippet of my mother and I communicating with stickers. With Telegram’s update, users can now convey their emotions in the form of stickers. Thus I agree with Mccarthy and Wright that technology has evolved to become more in tune with our experiences and feelings.