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It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

washingtonpost.com

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Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#91

Post by everdev »

hanspragt wrote: post #51
everdev wrote: post #12

For all developers asked to design something or not given a design - CSS padding is your friend. Add spacing and then add more. It won't make it a masterpiece but it'll prevent misclicks and make the UI easier to read and understand. Also, use headings like "Amber Alerts", "Weather" and "War". And, use semantic titles like "[TEST] Tsunami" or "ALERT! - Tsunami"

I don't adding more spacing is the way to go. Tests and actual alerts should be different menus.

Yes, thousands of ways to make it better. But I've worked with many developers who feel lost on how to make something look good. Without any design training, just use headings and spacing and it improves the look and feel by multiples and is something they can easily do without wondering if it looks good or not.

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#92

Post by bostonpete »

jklowden wrote: post #88
nsxwolf wrote: post #63

I think this whole thing could be seen as a blessing in disguise, but I don't hear anyone talking about it. We seem totally unprepared for this kind of event. The message said take shelter, so why were people running around screaming and crying in the streets? People were throwing their kids into storm drains. Clever, but what happens to them after that? Where do we go? How long do we have to stay there? Who is going…

No one stopped caring. What we stopped doing was pretending the civilian population could be protected against nuclear holocaust. The bomb that obliterated Hiroshima was a toy next to a thermonuclear bomb, which is 1000 times as powerful. If one lands on Oahu, there won't be anyone to pass out iodine pills in Hawaii, or anyone to pass them out to. Hawaii is just stupid to spend a nickel on an early warning system. Th…

> Hawaii is just stupid to spend a nickel on an early warning system.

The early warning system also includes messages for tsunamis, amber alerts, landslides, and high surf. I can't imagine the inclusion of a PACOM warning required any significant additional spending.

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#93

Post by ams6110 »

ourmandave wrote: post #89
notjustanymike wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tsunami warning: Everyone seeks high ground. Missile warning: Everyone flees to basements. Right next to each other, no way that'll go wrong.

Apropos to nothing, the actual user experience between a Tsunami and a Nuke are quite different.

If the nuke is off target and lands in the water you could have both?

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#94

Post by jasonmaydie »

everdev wrote: post #90
jasonmaydie wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Developers don't design. They implement.

"Design is how it works." - Steve Jobs Developers are designers, some just don't know it.

I'll put this is the same bucket as "my code is my comment"

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#95

Post by DDub »

stephengillie wrote: post #66
DDub wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point of a drill is to drill the procedure into people, so that when it is required the people are operating on autopilot without the need to actively think about the actions that they are performing. I would prefer to see the only two tapes next to the transmitter are the emergency tapes. If there is a drill then the drill setup will replace these tapes with the test tapes, and maybe place a corrupt tape there o…

"Scolding the ape" is not a viable UI option. The time for "carrot and stick" has passed. Today's solutions need to leverage volition and obviation, to prevent the opportunity for human error to occur.

I'm not scolding the ape, I'm scolding the organ grinder. When a drill deviates from the actions taken in an emergency it becomes a pantomime of little value.

I totally agree that the solution should leverage obviation to prevent human error in an emergency, that's what a drill is all about.

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#96

Post by j-c-hewitt »

nsxwolf wrote: post #63

I think this whole thing could be seen as a blessing in disguise, but I don't hear anyone talking about it. We seem totally unprepared for this kind of event. The message said take shelter, so why were people running around screaming and crying in the streets? People were throwing their kids into storm drains. Clever, but what happens to them after that? Where do we go? How long do we have to stay there? Who is going…

For whatever reason there came to be a general belief that the drills were pointless or just propaganda. In reality they were very worthwhile and provided meaningful preparedness training. The bomb isn't what always kills people: it's the building falling on top of you that will kill or maim you, and knowing what to do when the building is falling down can drastically improve your chances of survival.

The assumption that most people have is just that nukes just evaporate people like in Terminator 2. That's not the case for most of the danger zone.

This fascinating book on the topic of preparedness is available for free here: http://www.oism.org/nwss/

It includes a lot of detail, diagrams, and explanations about topics like fallout. Unfortunately many students who become politicians tend to be dramatically misinformed about how nuclear weapons work which leads to some systematically incorrect assumptions that have wide-ranging consequences.

Most of what people believe about nuclear weapons and nuclear technology in general is false.

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#97

Post by csours »

jcadam wrote: post #55
datpuz wrote: post #11

The UX in most software made for the government is terrible. At the end of the day, I think anyone clicking any button in that list should have been well aware of what those buttons do especially since clicking that button was a routine part of the shift change process in that shop. Bad UX, sure. But that person dun goofed.

I've been a software engineer in the defense industry my entire career. No contract I've ever been a part of included a UI/UX designer, I rather doubt the customer would have been willing to pay for one. Interfaces are always designed by the programmers alone, and they are universally awful. Heck, several years ago I remember having to learn Blender so I could create 3D models for some simulation software (no one els…

See also USS McCain:

https://medium.muz.li/ui-confusion-almost-sunk-a-us-destroye...

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/uss-m...

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#98

Post by Chaebixi »

mortenjorck wrote: post #40
Chaebixi wrote: post #19

There was a very similar incident in 1971 ("code word hatefulness"). Back then, three tapes were kept next to a EBS transmitter, two real alerts and one for testing. One day, an operator accidentally loaded the real alert rather than the correct test alert, and many stations prepared to tell the country the nuclear war was imminent. The fix was to: > …In the past three tapes, one for the test and two for actual emerg…

I'm glad the popular discourse has made it from "train employees better" to "design better interfaces" in this case. But as you point out, this is far, far from a new problem. It's as if we lived in a world where bridges have been built for decades with structural engineers as optional, rather than required by building code. If your project had a budget for a structural engineer, you hired one, but if not, fine, you…

> I know this is a controversial idea, as it opens up the question of UX design certification and licensure (if you require UX for critical infrastructure...But I think Hawaii makes it clear that the status quo is unsafe and unsustainable.

Or even a "code" like the National Electrical Code, which one would be required to comply with when working on critical infrastructure. That's how electricians apply the safety experience gained from previous unsafe practices.

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#99

Post by Chaebixi »

DDub wrote: post #95
stephengillie wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Scolding the ape" is not a viable UI option. The time for "carrot and stick" has passed. Today's solutions need to leverage volition and obviation, to prevent the opportunity for human error to occur.

I'm not scolding the ape, I'm scolding the organ grinder. When a drill deviates from the actions taken in an emergency it becomes a pantomime of little value. I totally agree that the solution should leverage obviation to prevent human error in an emergency, that's what a drill is all about.

> When a drill deviates from the actions taken in an emergency it becomes a pantomime of little value.

Sending an emergency alert isn't an action that requires split-second muscle memory. I think slight deviations in the drill vs. the real thing are fine in this case, in order to prevent false alarms.

There's no one-size-fits-all solution here, you have to analyze the trade-offs around speed and the cost of a false alarm.

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