Fun, Communication and Dependability: Extending the Concept of Usability

Abstract

Designing information and technology products for the home has drawn attention to the narrowness of traditional conceptions of usability. Design methods and guidelines were developed in work contexts and so are mainly concerned with ease-of-learning , low level ease-of-use and task fit. These are all issues in the home but there are other important components of usability. How do we make the product enjoyable to use? How do we design for effective human- human communication? How doe we make these systems dependable? The paper illustrates these issues through two design problems, the Virtual Pub and Mavis' smart home. Drawing on the history of HCI, suggestions are made about how these new conceptions of usability could be further developed for design for the home, and more widely.