

The Dark Side Of Usability - aplari
http://www.usabilitypost.com/2011/01/10/dark-side-of-usability/

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zdw
The gist of this is that people don't internalize a concept if the interface
guides them through it.

That's a decent objection if the goal is to teach thought process, danger
avoidance, or moral behavior where internalization is the intention.

That said, it also behooves people to try to make some things more universally
safe.

For example, I was in Ottawa, Canada a few years ago. They have a lock to go
between rivers in the middle of their city, being on the junction between
rivers. This concrete structure is in the middle of town with walking trails
around it, and features a 5-10 meter drop to water with no guardrail or edge
around it.

To my American eyes, this looked quite dangerous as an inexpensive
preventative measure could be added to prevent what could be a common
accident. On the flipside, not having a guardrail would cause people who were
aware of it to become more aware, and general raise their level of awareness,
along the lines of this article.

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cpeterso
In junior high school, my art teacher stored X-acto knives blade up. He
believed this would make students more cautious when using the knives.

But in comparison, a 5-10 meter drop without a guardrail does seem
unnecessarily dangerous.

