-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“