Some effects of considerate and inconsiderate systems

Concern for the human factors in computer systems continues to grow as computerization becomes more and more pervasive. In the early period of computing such concern was expressed in terms of "user orientation" and "user requirements." As interactive systems evolved it became more common to hear terms like "responsive systems," and "end-user requirements." In the early Seventies, when the computer profession experienced a wave of social responsibility, discussions emerged on "humanizing" systems [1]. More recent discussions on these issues describe ideal systems as people-oriented, convivial, or friendly [2]. Despite this attention to human factors there is relatively little systematic knowledge about what system features actually take human needs and desires into account, and, in this sense, are considerate.