Design at the Intersections Speaker Series: Designing Freedom of Approach into Human-Machine Relationships

Design at the Intersections Speaker Series: Designing Freedom of Approach into Human-Machine Relationships

In this new event series, we will explore the intersections between design and engineering, and spark conversations about the connections and opportunities that exist between these overlapping disciplines.

Second in the Series:

Designing Freedom of Approach into Human-Machine Relationships

Human-machine interactions are typically governed by strict protocols and scripted interactions that constrain the human-machine relationship in order to help make the machine response predictable to the person. Examples include everything from the gas pedal to graphical user interfaces. While this approach to interface design has yielded many useful — and usable — technologies, it leaves little room for discovery and learning as the human and machine collaborate, and gives humans little chance to develop idiosyncratic approaches to problem solving. We will explore the technical manner in which humans and machines can build relationships and also draw on analogies to how humans build relationships with each other.