Failure in Use of Technology

Abstract

If we want to use a technical system, we often face a challenge whether it is a coffee machine or a multifunction printer. How is that device functioning and what do I have to do to get a cup of coffee or to scan a page? While the functioning of many devices has been obvious in the past, the digitalization of the technical environment has led to the fact that we are increasingly failing to meet the challenge and finally fail. Contrary to other areas of life, however, failure in usage of technology not often does lead to serious consequences; what fails is merely an action. This can root from different causes: a lack of knowledge and skills, the task is too complex, the user interface of the technical system is badly designed and the organization-related context prevents the success of the action. These causes act on their own, on the other hand they interact with each other. Actions can be controlled in various ways: by thinking and solving problems, by applying learned rules and by automated unconscious routines. On all three levels of control, mistakes and failure are ultimately inevitable. However, the probability of failure can be reduced, in particular, by a Human Centred Design approach. On the other hand, failure can also be quite intentional, for example, when technical safety barriers prevent to perform dangerous actions before they unfold their harmful effects. However, the idea of replacing unreliable humans with reliable technical systems and thus preventing a failure does not work, because humans can also fail as developers, programmers and designers of technical systems. This is why blind trust from users in technology occasionally leads to failure, as numerous curious events in the use of navigation devices show.