In her article From Plans and Situated Actions, Lucy Suchman argues that the development of advanced technologies and the design of useful tools should be based on real-world contexts, user needs, and the interaction between technology and society. In this navigation Lucy emphasizes the importance which changes people’s understanding of the applicability of technology through a number of examples and ideas.
One of the interesting things is that in the opening she mentions the different navigation strategies of Europeans and Trukese. Europeans tend to make plans while the Trukese prefer to trust their intuition and react to the environment once they have set a destination. This example is a very good representation of the relationship between purpose and action in different cultures. It occurs to me that most real-life decisions are similar to but far more complex than, navigating the open sea. We are often overwhelmed with more variable external factors and environments, all of which have a great impact on our individual cognitive science. Lucy makes people understand that design should not only be about idealized plans but also focus on the current environment and actual situation. This is the same concept of user-centered design that we are now learning and advocating. Lucy emphasized such a viewpoint in her article back in 1987.
Lucy also describes how the design and use of computers is influenced by social and cultural factors. She mentions a case study of the development of computer systems. In traditional workplaces, computer systems are often viewed as neutral tools that are designed based on strict and idealized plans and rules. However, Lucy points out that the situation in actual workplaces is often more complex. Staff members may customize computer systems to fit their workflow based on the actual situation and needs. This customization makes the computer system more of an “artifact” than a tool that performs according to a strict plan.
These examples emphasize Lucy’s central point that the design and use of technology must be more sensitive to real-world contexts and user needs. She argues that technology should be adapted to human needs, rather than being forced to adapt to technology. This idea is widely used in modern user-centered design approaches, which emphasize collaboration and feedback with users to ensure that technological systems will be successful in real-world use.
