Silicon Age

Suchman challenged traditional cognitive values, arguing that human behavior is dependent on its environment, also known as a “situated action”. Human cognition functions by being adaptive to different situations, especially when unexpected changes arise. When a problem arises it is instinctual for people to attempt and overcome these barriers or work their way around it. This altered the way technology is designed because digital interactions are not fixed linear paths. Interactions are a flow of interconnected components of sensory details. Depending on a users needs or situation, navigating a particular product may be intuitive or unintuitive. An example would be the Xerox printers, they were designed to be easy to use, but many people struggled to use the device or was unsure how to operate the machine. By adding signifiers such as the bight green button, she simplified the way people perform tasks. This goes to show the importance of HCI in crafting universal design that everyone can use.

Lucy Suchman’s work at Xerox helped us see that for technology to really work, it has to make sense in people’s everyday lives, not just in the way designers imagine it should. Watching how copier operators struggled with confusing instructions showed that real users don’t always follow the steps designers expect—they interact with technology in their own ways, often trying to “figure it out” as they go. Her insights pushed designers to think beyond just creating a tool that functions technically and to consider whether it’s genuinely easy and helpful for people to use in real life. This way of thinking, called human-centered design, helps ensure that technology feels intuitive, adaptable, and designed around real users’ needs and habits. Her insights encourage us to consider not just whether technology “works” technically, but whether it genuinely works for the people intended to use it.

Lucy Suchman’s research, especially her work with front-end operators at Xerox, has profoundly influenced the way we understand whether technology design meets human needs.

Human behavior is complex and is not within the designer’s preset process. This shows that design must take into account user preferences and operating habits, rather than relying solely on the system’s internal logic to plan operating steps.

Suchman pointed out that predefined operating steps alone often cannot meet the needs of actual operations because users will encounter various unpredictable situations in reality. Designers should ensure that technical systems can flexibly adapt to various usage situations by observing and understanding users’ real usage scenarios.

In the previous video, we reviewed Suchman’s theory, especially in the Xerox listening study, where she revealed how traditional technology design failed to adapt to users’ real needs through observation of operators. This reminds us that when designing technology, we must focus on people’s operating methods and thinking habits.

shuoning Liang

Lucy Suchman revolutionized our understanding of human-technology interaction by emphasizing that technology’s effectiveness depends on real-world, context-specific use rather than pre-defined tasks. Her work, especially in Plans and Situated Actions, showed that human behavior is adaptive and unpredictable, challenging designers to focus on user contexts rather than fixed routines. Suchman’s insights led to more flexible, user-centered design approaches, underscoring that successful technology must account for human variability and the complexities of everyday environments.

Lucy Suchman’s work revolutionised the way we evaluate whether technology effectively serves users by shifting the focus from design intentions to actual human interactions. Her influential study at Xerox, where she observed how people struggled with seemingly straightforward photocopiers, demonstrated that technology often fails not because of user incompetence, but due to design assumptions that don’t align with real-world practices. Suchman’s ethnographic approach highlighted the importance of context, showing that technology must fit into the nuanced ways people behave and solve problems in specific situations.

Her research revealed that interaction with technology is not simply about following instructions; it’s an adaptive, social process. Rather than treating users as passive operators, Suchman advocated for participatory design—an approach where designers actively engage with end-users during the development process. This insight underscored the importance of creating technologies that support users’ natural workflows, rather than expecting people to conform to rigid machine logic.

Thanks to Suchman, human-centred design has become a fundamental principle in technology development today. Her work reminds us that no design can be evaluated in isolation—it only “works” when it fits the practices, environments, and needs of the people who use it.

Lucy Suchman’s work at Xerox PARC changed the way we think about designing technology by focusing on how real people interact with it. In her research, she observed how employees struggled to use Xerox copiers, even though the machines were intended to be user-friendly. She found that there was often a gap between how engineers thought people would use the copiers and how they actually did. Her observations highlighted that understanding users’ real-world behaviors and contexts is crucial for creating technology that genuinely works for them.

She pushed for a shift in tech design—moving from just making things “intuitive” to truly understanding how people integrate technology into their everyday lives. Her approach emphasized that effective design comes from observing and learning from users, not just assuming they’ll adapt to a product. This user-centered approach remains foundational in fields like human-computer interaction, reminding us that the key to good design is putting people first.

-KY (Yujie Yin

Lucy Suchman’s work has changed the way we think about the interaction between people and technology, from humans to machines to machines. She challenged the dominant view, emphasizing the importance of “situational action,” where users constantly adapt their actions to the specific environment they are in, rather than just following instructions. This shifts the focus from refining systems based on idealized use cases to understanding how people actually use and interact with technology in real-world environments.

Technology design should accommodate the fluidity and unpredictability of human behavior, making interactions more intuitive and adapting to user needs, rather than expecting users to follow rigid workflows. This has had a profound impact on interaction design, leading to more user-centric and context-sensitive techniques.

She pioneered the idea of human-centered interaction, which is what I’m learning now. “What might users think“

Lucy Suchman’s work, especially her observations at Xerox with copier operators, fundamentally shifted our understanding of human-computer interaction (HCI). She emphasized that technology should not be seen as something that users passively interact with but rather as something that requires ongoing, situated practice. Her ethnographic studies showed that users often adapt and improvise around technologies in unexpected ways, highlighting that design needs to consider real-world contexts, not just idealized use cases.

Her insights led to a focus on “situated action,” where technology is assessed based on how well it integrates with users’ everyday routines and environments. This perspective encourages designers to consider the dynamic, often unpredictable nature of human behavior, making user-centered design practices more adaptable and context-aware.

Lucy Suchman’s work at Xerox changed how we think about whether the technology we design actually works for people. Users often struggle with technology not because they lack skill but because the design doesn’t match how they naturally interact with the world. For example, the copiers were designed with complex instructions that didn’t align with how people usually use machines, leading to errors and frustration. Understanding real user behavior is key to making technology more intuitive and user-friendly.

I think that we can’t just assume a design will work because it looks good or follows technical standards. We need to observe and listen to how people actually use technology in their daily lives. It’s about designing systems that adapt to human behavior rather than forcing users to adapt to the system. This user-centered approach is essential for creating technology that truly works for people.

Lucy Suchman, a cultural anthropologist and researcher, has significantly influenced the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) and the way we understand how technology fits into people’s lives. Her work has shifted the perspective from viewing technology as a neutral tool to recognizing it as deeply embedded within social and cultural contexts. Here’s how her contributions have impacted our understanding:

1. Contextual Design: Suchman emphasizes that human-computer interaction occurs in a specific context. Dynamic interactions with the material and social world constantly construct and reconstruct human behavior.

2. Challenging simplistic usability concepts: She witnessed the shortcomings of systems that didn’t fit into existing workflows at Xerox PARC. This made her challenge the traditional, simplistic notions of usability. The effectiveness of technology depends on how well it integrates into users’ real-world contexts and workflows, she demonstrated.

3. User-Centered Design: Suchman’s critique led to a greater emphasis on user-centered design practices. Instead of designing technology based solely on functional specifications, designers began to focus more on the needs, behaviors, and contexts of actual users. This shift encouraged designers to involve users in the design process to ensure that the technology is usable and useful in real-world situations.

4. Social and Cultural Dimensions: Suchman emphasized that people use technology not in isolation, but rather within a broader social and cultural framework. This insight has enhanced our comprehension of how to seamlessly integrate technologies into people’s everyday practices and interactions.

5. Interaction and Collaboration: Her work also underscored the collaborative nature of many tasks, showing that technology should support group activities and interactions. This has implications for designing systems that facilitate communication and collaboration among users.

Lucy Suchmanm’s research at Xerox truly began to involve the interaction between humans and machines. She believes that user behavior is not always based on the intentions involved or predictable in advance. She believes user actions stem from the environment and state they wish to use. Lucy believes that when using a printer (early PC), users do not need to follow the operating instructions step by step to print strictly, but can more intuitively help users improvise their needs. She hopes to encourage printer designers to pay more attention to user interaction and adaptability, emphasizing the importance of designing based on people’s actual behavior in practice.

Lucy Suchman had an understanding of people and human society. She used this knowledge to improve the understanding of how design works for people. Lucy had a video recorded of people trying to use a copier machine and struggling greatly. She was one of the early people that would observe how users interact with working prototypes. By understanding the behavior of the user, we can better design with the user in mind. If the user finds something unclear, then that’s a sign that we need to make the design more intuitive. It is extremely important to test prototypes on someone to see if it makes sense or if there are any issues. If we don’t test prototypes, then we could waste time creating a flawed design or a design that doesn’t fulfill its goal well. We use Suchman’s concept of testing prototypes today, and it’s vital to the design process.