Her Code Got Humans On The Moon
The story of Margaret Hamilton was really inspiring. I was especially intrigued by her resilience to work even though she had a little daughter and she brought her to the lab to do her work. Her story about leaving a party to make a correction is something I can relate to. I recall countless times I have been at social events and a new idea or a realization on something I am working on just pops to my head. I may not be as enthusiastic about my work to leave the event but I really admire her for that.
This reading highlighted the difference between a computer and a human in when it comes to making mistakes. NASA trusted their astronauts not to make a mistake and be “perfect” but as Hamilton’s instincts proved right, one can make mistake irrespective of the training they have received so she designed a way out even though her superiors said that would never happen. This is something we will take into account when designing future projects. It should be based on the assumptions that the user is not perfect and can make some mistakes so a fail safes or a way out should be designed to ensure the program or device works as it is supposed to.
Looking back at the Artemis II mission launched a few days ago, I can only imagine the sophisticated software and computing used in this mission. If Hamilton and her team were able to design a whole software with such limited memory and storage and they were still successful I wonder what would be designed for the current mission with all the computing power and artificial intelligence available to the team. I am sure it will also contain groundbreaking innovations can usher humanity into a new age just as Hamilton’s “software” did.
Norman,“Emotion & Design: Attractive things work better”
The reading spoke about something which is usually unspoken of. The design element of objects. These designs if done right can make a user overlook all the flaws of a product or completely change the idea the user has over the product. Take for instance, popular brands like apple. Although there is no substantial change in the yearly iphones they released, when they change the colour of the phones or just position to camera in a different way, they are able to appeal to the beauty sense of the customer and ride on this to sell their products.
Reflecting on this reading, I go back to the first half of the semester where I used to design programs just for the sake of working. I did not pay much attention to the beauty and aesthetics of the program. Which the first encounter a user will have with my project. A boring interface can push a user away eventhough the logic or idea behind the program is amazing. This can also be seen in flashy adds and flashy designs companies make on their products. These are all strategies to reel customers in and focus their attention on exactly what they designers what them to focus on and overlook all the possible flaws of their program a