Leonardo's Laptop : Human Needs and the New Computing Technologies

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Summary: A fresh perspective on technology and people
Review: Ben Schneiderman's book, Leonardo's Laptop, was a required text in a Cyberspace, Culture and Society course I taught this summer. The course was a combined upper level undergraduate and graduate seminar class that included students from a wide range of academic disciplines: English, sociology, psychology, anthropology, computer science, information systems, philosophy, interdisciplinary studies, Language, Literacy and Culture, and Policy Science. The students overwhelmingly indicated that the book was excellent: readable, inspiring, and thought provoking.

Leonardo's Laptop urges users to promote better design by getting "angry about the poor quality of user interfaces and the underlying infrastructure" and to think big about the ways computers could "support creativity, consensus-seeking and conflict resolution." Shneiderman urges designers to build technology guided by the principle of universal usability to insures that all types of people, young, old, novices, experts, disabled, will be able to use technology to enhance their lives.

Chapters dealing with e-leaning, e-commerce, e-health, and e-government suggest creative ways that technology can support humans as they seek to deal with pressing social issues. This book creatively explores a topic that, all too often, is dealt with in jargon and technical terminology that is not accessible to a wide audience and narrowly frames the discussion of technology and its effects. The book promoted interesting discussion between technical and non-technical students about the effects of technology on societies around the world. The students especially liked the "collect, relate, create, donate framework" that Schneiderman so skillfully uses to illustrate how technology can empower and liberate users.

This book is interesting reading for anyone who is interested in technology, people, and the future.

Rating:
Summary: Leonardo's Laptop by Ben Shneiderman
Review: Ben Shneiderman's "Leonardo's Laptop" should be as inspirational to readers in the 21st century as Leonardo daVinci was in the l5th and l6th. Renaissance man possessed "virtu"-the spirit of the times reflected by freedom to choose, invent and create. Shneiderman exemplifies this same attribute today, probably termed "existential". One does not remain static but, freely innovative with all tools available. While Leonardo pioneered the arts and sciences which eventually enlightened society, Shneiderman suggests what the user can do with the computer as an application of modern day social science .

This book offers a model, the same process of Leonardo's thought - COLLECT, RELATE, CREATE, DONATE. (CRCD) Clearly, this process has unlimited applications and Shneiderman highlights education, commerce, medicine and of course government, itself, sa varied spectrum of political ramifications. Most computer users master the technical side. Shneiderman reminds us that if we just stop for a moment, in the imaginative Renaissance spirit of "virtue" or his modern model CRCD, this technical tool can benefit various aspects of social living. Leonardo did not have this opportunity yet,because he well understood the human condition, we still positively enjoy his legacy. Shneiderman's model serves this same inspiration in today's world. Since the computer is here to stay, let's use it well!

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Summary: Demand More From the Computer Industry
Review: The following review was published in the October 2003 issue of the Usability Interface, the quarterly newsletter for the Usability SIG of the STC (Society for Technical Communication).

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Background

Anyone who knows Ben Shneiderman and the activities of the Human-Computer Interface Lab (HCIL) would expect a book like Leonardo’s Laptop. Twenty years ago as founding director of HCIL, he was in the avant-garde of bringing together experts in computer science, engineering, psychology, and education to develop computers and their interfaces to better serve human needs. Back then computer interfaces had barely advanced from a row of blinking lights to a flickering green monitor.

Why did Shneiderman write Leonardo?
Having long been at the forefront of interface design among design, he sensed a need for something new to advance things to the next level. It’s the involvement of the masses that can push the development and implementation of what is possible with computing and interfaces.

He writes, “Old computing is about what computers can do. New computing is about what people can do.” And one thing people can do is to demand better computer interfaces or “Universal Usability.” In Leonardo, Shneiderman empowers users to demand more by giving real, concrete examples of how computers can better support human activities.

Shneiderman’s approach

For designers he develops a framework for designers to construct technology to support users and their needs — the Activities and Relationships Table (ART). ART is Shneiderman’s approach to relating human activities and relationships. The columns are four activities: collect (information), relate (communicate), create (innovate), and donate (disseminate). The four rows are relationships, each one describing an increasingly large group: self, family and friends, colleagues and neighbors, citizens and markets. Using this framework, human needs are identified first and then technology is developed to meet these needs.

Separate chapters on e-business, e-learning, e-commerce, and e-government use this framework to identify needs specific to these areas and then consider how technology can better support the individual and society. The focus is on how technology supports human relationships, how technology enables individuals and groups to be more productive and more creative, and how technology helps diverse groups collaborate within communities or across continents.

Each chapter concludes with a thoughtful section labeled, “The Skeptics Corner.” There he completes the discussion of each chapter by voicing the concerns of those who would question his ideas or who see problems with his approach. Shneiderman readily admits that real world solutions are not without potential problems or risk. Here he strengthens his theses by contrasting them with the alternatives.

Of particular interest to the Usability Community are chapter subsections on defining universal usability, accommodating diverse users, bridging the gap between what users know and what they need to know, and methods for achieving user-centered design. This book provides a service to the Usability Community by raising public awareness of and knowledge about Usability.

...ISBN 0262194764 hard cover, 0262692996 soft cover