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Listen to part of a lecture in an introductory computer science class.
Professor: In previous classes, we explored some basic underlying concepts of computer systems that drive application and programming. Now I want to focus on a related topic: technology design—the way developers think about and design computer systems and software. This isn’t just a technological problem. It is also a philosophical one as well, which is made clear in one of the books you’ve been assigned to read this semester. To demonstrate my point, let’s talk about Leonardo da Vinci and the outlook that his work seems to reveal.
    Now Leonardo da Vinci, as you may know, was both a great artist of the Italian Renaissance and a great inventor with contributions to multiple fields, including architecture, anatomy, and engineering. Da Vinci was able to think both scientifically and artistically, and he blended science and art in his drawings of human anatomy. His work demonstrates that humans were front and center in his way of thinking about the world, as though he were thinking, "What human problems can my designs solve?"
    Now it may seem obvious to say we want our computers to solve human problems, but there’s an important distinction made in the book you’ll read, the distinction between old computing and new computing. Old computing refers to a way of thinking about computing that was driven by thoughts like improving computing power and speed, how many gigabits a machine might have, how fast a machine is, and so on. Now, of course, these features are still important. The problem is whether these are the end goal, because the power and processing speed are sort of irrelevant if the machine is poorly designed and doesn’t meet the expectations of the user.
    On the other hand, new computing refers to an approach to design that focuses on the end goal, or more specifically, the end-user’s goal: what the individual might need or want out of the computer. It places humans front and center.
    In new computing the focus shifts from what computers can do to what people can do with computers. So instead of thinking about big power for the sake of having a fancy impressive machine, developers concentrate on individuals or specific groups of individuals, For example, they create products that support human activities, activities like collecting information or communication or disseminating information to others. I think da Vinci would be very surprised about how well-informed people are about medical issues today when they arrive at their doctor’s office.
    Ok, so it’s really important to find out what people want, what’s useful to them, before we develop new technologies, which brings me to the next point about new computing: that designs should be not only useful, but also user-friendly. Besides usefulness, usability is important. The idea that computer programs, accessories, websites, really anything related to your computer should be easy to use. I know, this all sounds very simple. The term user-friendly has been around for years. The problem is we don’t always create things that are easy for users to use. Take websites: many of you have probably been on websites that were really confusing. You couldn’t find the information you were looking for or there was so much information on the site that you just gave up. Again, this is where thinking like da Vinci can help. The goal is to solve problems, not create new ones. Those websites might be really easy for their designers to navigate, but they aren’t the ones who need to use the sites, So again, designers need to involve the users from the beginning to find out their expectations and what kind of tasks they want to perform.
    I should tell you that not only computer science researchers, but researchers from other disciplines like sociology and psychology, for example, are involved in this new computing approach, which makes sense. But again, old computing is still important. We still need people to think bigger and faster and be able to take care of computing issues that are secondary to other developers who think like da Vinci, who are concerned with human-centered computing.