I found the reading for Week 5 incredibly interesting, as it covered the human-computer relationship, and what exactly our experience of the computer can stand for. When humans interact with computers, we use the computer itself as a tool. In turn, what the computer does as a result of how we use that is a secondary consequence of our decision, as opposed to the primary, which one may assume. The interface and the metaphors it stands for is explored, and said to exist at every level within the interface. The main argument I took away from here, was the belief that the computer is a representation of a virtual world or system in which interact. The only problem with the metaphorical approach arises when trying to examine specific objects and the way they exist within a computer system, as they represent the objects and the relations between them rather than representing their actions. She brings in the term “design heuristic” in regards to this, which refers to the idea of focusing interface design on the designing of the action rather than the object-relation previously mentioned.
