Introduction

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Introduction, What is Design, What is Human Factors ?

Lecture on 1/17/2007, Handouts for the class (pdf format). Lecture slides.

Readings

Discussions

Please post your critiques/commments on the required readings below. To do that, first login by using your user name and password, then click the "edit" tab on the top part of this page (between the "discussion" page and the "history" page), New to wikis? Read the Wiki editing guide. . Hint - Please put a whole line == ~~~~ == at the beginning of your submitted critique, so the wiki system will index, sign and date your submission automatically.


Note : critiques on readings in lecture 1 (listed on this page) are required, due 11:59PM 1/26/2007

Note : critiques on readings in lecture 2 (link) are required, due 4:59PM 1/22/2007


Contents

[edit] Jingtao Wang 14:02, 16 January 2007 (PST)

Jingtao's critique to the first article goes here.

Jingtao's critique to the second article goes here.

[edit] Tawan Udtamadilok 09:50, 20 January 2007 (PST)

Agresti and Presnell's article clearly defines the different types of problems in the 2000 Presidential election. The general hypothesis is that ballot design contributed greatly to the inability to determine the proper presidential vote. Additionally, the poor designs made it difficult to accurately determine other sources of bias (ie. tampering). I feel that one phrase in this article also adresses the unease with optically-counted ballots: "...upgrading voting technology alone will not solve this problem." The problem is not the fault of any one voting system, it is the poor design of all of the voting systems that hides the actual results of the election.

I read the first few pages of Bush's article not knowing that it was written in 1945. At first I was extremely confused about his descriptions for the technology for his present-day. Although there were thorough speculations about the future of recording instruments, I questioned his understanding of the user for each product. After rereading and realizing the original publishing date, I could see how his designs were applicable and user-friendly for the consumer during his time.

[edit] Marshall Anderson 14:34, 20 January 2007 (PST)

Vannevar Bush gave a unique need-based exploration into the design of the next generation recording, storing, editing, displaying, and printing devices. I liked the fact that he had great creativity with his Memex device and that he held vast knowledge of the existing technology and exciting developments of his time. It was pretty cool to see how he was pretty much predicting the modern day PC and Internet. I disliked the fact that he waiting until the end of the article to even consider technologies that were conceived to be impossible.

I enjoyed reading the Agresti article because it was from an academic perspective. It is clear that the design of the butterfly style ballot was flawed. For something like a ballot you have to expect a huge diversity of thought within the audience and as a designer you must account for this by "idiot proofing" your design. I did not like the conclusion that no voting technology can overcome a bad ballot design. I think optical voting systems can improve the results if there is enough user feedback..."Are you sure you want to vote for XX?" Audible feedback would be another solution but would not work in the public polling setup we use today.

[edit] Onyi Lam 21:12, 20 January 2007 (PST)

Bush's article is not the easiest article to read but it is interesting to read from a different perspective how a future device, named as "Memex" by Bush, can be designed based on the simple need of mass. In the first part of this article, Bush uses devices invented from the past to detail some techological progressions that seemed natural if we look back now. A lot of complications were met but were eventually solved. Almost all of the techological evolution were driven by the persitent push in designing a better product to adopt to peoples' need. Bush knows a great deal about the technological development at his time and it is really interesting to compare modern day computers with Memex.

Agresti presents a lot of statistical analysis on the voting pattern in Palm Beach County in the 2000 presidential election, and concludes that the flaw in the ballot design, along with voter confusion and carelessness, have very much cost Al Gore the election. Aregesti's article shows that poor product design can signaficantly affect our life in a negative way. While the election results are final and cannot be disputed anymore, it is important to learn from this experience and when in the process of designing, we should always think from the users' perspective to ensure the product is user-friendly and meets the design objective.


[edit] Asmita Karandikar 13:22, 21 January 2007 (PST)

Agresti and Presnell’s paper “Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election” discusses the various voting problems in the 2000 Presidential election – misvotes (voting for the wrong candidate), overvotes (voting for more than one person), and undervotes (when it isn’t clear who the vote is for). Using statistics and regression, the authors suggest that if errors might have cost Gore the election. The article suggests that these various errors were likely caused by various ballot designs. I would have liked to see the article give information on whether these ballots, such as the butterfly ballot, the two-column ballot, and the punch-card ballots, were being used for the first time in the 2000 election, and if not, what the percentages of voting errors were for previous elections. After reading the article, it is obvious to see the importance of testing products before they are used by the public to try to make them as error-proof and easy to use as possible.


Vannevar Bush’s article “As We May Think” discusses how science should focus more on making knowledge more accessible, rather than focusing on advancing technology for the purposes of war. Bush believes that with the availability of better technology and the reduced cost of complex, reliable devices, the job of compiling, storing, and accessing information can be made a lot easier, particularly with a device such as the “memex.” I don’t think that the lack of accessible information is as much of a problem today as it was in the past, since we have fast computers and the Internet. I think that Bush could have done a better job in presenting the article because I thought that it was somewhat confusing to follow at times.

[edit] Brian Loo 13:35, 21 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida”

This article surprised me on how complicated our voting system can be. Agresti and Presenell show the issues that arose from the 2000 election between Gore and Bush. In the end, it came down to the design of the ballots that changed the election and final decision of the US president. Looking at the ballot (Figure 1), I cannot blame that people were confused on how to vote. Voting is the basis of our country and should be made as easy as possible for everyone to take part of. It is voting ballots like this that contribute to our low voter turnout. Also, I am surprised that the United States haven’t pushed to standardized the method of voting especially after this incident. This would be very helpful as they can take the best technique currently being used and apply it to everyone. As a result, if one ever moved, they would still know how to vote properly.

“As we may think” This article had it moments of interesting facts but was difficult to read and follow at times. I am amazed on how much he knew about all the different types of technology of his era. Today, we are surrounded by technology but yet I know so little about it. I know the general concept and ideas of many gadgets and devices, but nothing in depth like this. The most fascinating part of the article was how he pictured today’s invention of the modern PC back then. It just amazes me that this crazy idea of a PC in 1945 existed to this extent. I could only imagine how skeptical society was about this like we are today of flying cars or technology we have seen in The Jetsons cartoon show.

[edit] Rey Doctora 15:28, 21 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida” Agresti and Presnell describe how the outcome of the 2000 Presidential Election was mainly the result of bad and negligent engineering. It appears that the designer was not thinking about his/her clients (the voters) when designing the ballot, an important step stressed in “The Task-Centered Design Process” article. I also feel that for something as important as a national election, design for something such as a voter ballot should stress simplicity. People come from various sorts of educational backgrounds, and if the design were simple enough for even the least educated person to understand, this should help minimize errors in voter accuracy.


“As we may think” I am very surprised by Bush’s article. Considering that this was written in 1945, Bush made several logical predictions about several technologies, some of which exists today. For example, he alluded to the compression of information such as the Britannica (which exist today in forms such as CD-Roms) and also to machines that would store information by association (reminding us of our modern relational databases). The article, overall, was very optimistic in terms of describing how technology has come to, and will continue to, improve man’s standard of living through innovations that make life easier to live in. Bush also warns, however, that technology is a double-edged sword and that we must also be wary of where we go as a species as we continue to innovate in this dynamic world.


[edit] Jason Hu 15:48, 21 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes” I liked that this article provided actual statistical analysis of the Florida election irregularities that until now I only had a fuzzy idea of. When presented in the right graphic, the significance of the irregularity really hits home. It’s interesting to hear that while the undervote recounts were the headliners of the day, between the approximately 19,000 overvotes, 10,000 undervotes, and 3,000 wrongfully purged from the voter rolls, a correction of any of the above mistakes could have changed the results of the election. Of course, as the article acknowledges, no statistical analysis can prove who the voter’s intended to vote for.

“As We May Think” I’m impressed by how visionary Vannevar Bush’s prophecies from 1945 were. The technology is off, but the basic idea of the devices and their usefulness is spot on. When he talks about “making more accessible our bewildering store of knowledge,” and in particular, the importance of association-based information recall as opposed to categorization, I think Google. As for his big ideas about an enlightened populous with access to the most advanced human knowledge… well, we have the Internet and the hurdle isn’t the technology anymore, it’s social. It’s about technological accessibility (and not just to the first world); educational accessibility (everyone must be prepared to understand and pursue knowledge), and cultural accessibility (we have to want to). These are the challenges of our generation


[edit] Alec Berg 17:47, 21 January 2007 (PST)

The Agresti and Presnell article is clear and to the point. The poor design of the butterfly ballot seems to have confused many voters. This is evident by the unusually high vote for Pat Buchanan in Palm County, where the butterfly ballot was used. With a better design Gore could possibly have been won the election or at least would have been a lot closer. This emphasizes the need for good design in today’s world.

Bush’s article is quite stunning. His vast knowledge of engineering and technology provide an incredible perspective of what the world could be. He talks about how in the coming years the amount of information in the world will grow immensely. The ability to record events and knowledge will be made much easier so that the advancement of technology can continue at an even faster rate. Even if some of his inventions have not come around, his point about the growth in technology, and the role of electronics, has been accurate.

[edit] Andrew Prasetyo 7:10 PM, 21 January 2007 (PST)

== Andrew Prasetyo == “Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida” This article lays out how a small mistake in design may cause a gigantic problem. Often times, we are often deceived by our own technology. In many technologically-advanced countries, like America, the government is trying to improve the security of the elections by providing voters with a user-friendly but reliable voting machine. However, as the technology gets complicated, the designer often neglects the aspects of human-error. As this article shows, human errors might lead to a devastating outcome, at least for Al Gore’s campaign. Thus, upon reading this article, I can say that simplicity is better.

== Andrew Prasetyo == “As We May Think” Bush’s article recalls some of the technologies of the past, such as camera, telegraph, television, and, of course, “Memex”. In his article, Bush predicted some of the future devices that would make life much easier, and they will also be in a much smaller forms that those in the 40’s. It is very interesting to know how science and technology have developed very rapidly from 40’s to the present day. As I read through the article, however, I felt that the exposition of the article contains a lot of technical terms that are somewhat confusing, and it would be better if Bush could write the article in more general terms.


[edit] Katherine Tong 23:25, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida" I feel that Agresti and Presnell give interesting insight as to how voting for the 2000 election was confusing, but upon looking at the picture of the ballot I didn't find it too complex. I mean, there were arrows pointing to the hole that went with whichever candidate. Shouldn't those arrows have helped voters? I think this is where the problem happened. I think that this was probably a new ballot designed to "help" make voting easier (hence the arrows), but in doing so the ballot makers "tried too hard." Maybe if they had let each page have its own column, rather than having two pages share a column, this could have been avoided.

"As We May Think" It's pretty interesting how some of Bush's ideas are actually in use today, in particular "Memex". I feel like the "memex" is a personal search engine, and that the trail is basically a "back" button. Other than the memex, what really stood out to me were the various photo development techniques, the stenograph, and the compressed encyclopedias. I didn't really understand how the compressed encyclopedia would work (pg 39), but I think its electronic equivalent would be a CD. I felt that the stenograph, voice recorder was an interesting idea, but I didn't really see the need for it. I may need a better understanding of when it would be used though.


[edit] Karey Park 14:13, 23 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida"

This is a great article that shows, by example, the importance of industrial design, and the importance of taking human factors into consideration. It makes perfect sense that anyone designing a voter ballot would place a very high emphasis on clarity of a voter's choice of vote. The fact that overvotes and other anomalies were so numerous highlights the differences between designers and their users. Otherwise, how could so many overvotes be accumulated? Interestingly, the problem was the same across several voting methods, a great insight into the nature of design improvement. Not every change is for the better.

"As We May Think"

This is an insightful exploration of human intelligence and thought, and how science has, and potentially can be, applied to meet the needs of society. Bush clearly, and seemingly reluctantly, idealizes the human mind. It is this fascination with the complexity of human civilization that sparks reader interest and gives authority to the points she states in her article, the main being that applying science correctly can enable us to emcompass the "great record" (our past) so as to grow as a race.


[edit] Jordan Blum 22:17, 23 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election"

This article discusses several voting problems that took place in Palm Beach, Florida during the 2000 Presidential election. The authors site three classes of problems that occured: misvotes (a case in which it is believed that the voter intended to vote for a different candidate than s/he actually marked), overvotes (a case in which the voter votes for too many candidates), and undervotes (a case in which the voter did not specify a candidate for a particular position). The combination of all of the ballot problems, according to this study, indicates that Bush may not have been the clearcut winner, at least not by the official margin. Instead, statistical evidence suggests that many voters who intended to vote for Gore ended up voting for another candidate, too many cnadidates, or no candidate at all. All of these ballot problems, the article argues, are the result of a poor ballot design, which confused many voters. This reinforces the necessity to test designs before they are implemented. Simple tests among random people in Florida before the election would have likely prevented this from happening.

“As We May Think”

Vannevar Bush's ideas in this article, which was written in 1945, are surprisingly visionary. Many of the ideas he discusses in his article (particularly those that enable the masses to access advanced human knowldege) actually exist today, even if the specific technologies used to deliver them are different. I was particularly interested in hs ideas about photography. He seemed to believe that photography would become more important as a way to document certain events. Today, though people don't walk around with cameras on their heads stapping pictures of anything and everything, digital photography has enabled people to take many more pictures than they did in the past.


[edit] Ricky Surachman 22:30, 23 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida" This is a great article which decribes how design of voter ballots can influence the result of an presidential election. This really shows how design, which many people consider as a simple thing, is actually really critical. The designer of the ballot obviously didn't test the design product, which also an important part of design, before actually using it in the real voting.

"As We May Think" I am really fascinated on how Bush can predict some devices that people really need and use in the future. The article itself is actually a little bit boring for me. But overall, his devices idea, including "memex" which i think is equivalent as today's internet, really impresed me (considering that Bush thought and wrote about it back in 1945).

[edit] Urvashi 01:54, 24 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida" This article was pretty informative for me as I had no idea that voting is such a complex procedure. It made me realize how important ballot design is in the actual voting process as a lot of people got confused and ended up voting for a candidate other than the one they intended to vote for. It just shows us that in product design, it is essential to test the product on some users first as there are often some fatal flaws that come to light only after trying and testing the product. The article also strongly drives across the point that something as insignificant as the design of the ballot can actually affect our life in such a profound way. Who would have thought that the policies we live with everyday and the president we elected could have been so drastically different if we had just tweaked the design of the ballot cards a little.

"As We May Think" I found this article to be very futuristic and was also very impressed by Bush’s technical knowledge. I was particularly impressed by the parallels he drew between a dry film camera and a television while explaining how essentially similar they are save for two minor differences. He also did make some pretty accurate predictions about certain pieces of technology that are very commonly used nowadays, and I’m very tempted to believe his description of how a researcher of the future will take notes in his lab just by having a camera affixed to his forehead and by noting his observations out aloud. He also seems to be a passionate believer in the importance of education for the future generations. He wants people to train themselves to think scientifically but he also cautions that we must learn how to responsibly use our knowledge or we might end up misusing it and bringing harm to ourselves.

[edit] Siu Pan Lam 09:10, 24 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida"

This article gave a fairly comprehensive analysis on the 2000 presidential election in Florida by providing relevant statistical data. The main goal of the article was to tackle the flaw in the ballot design that might have irrevocably altered the outcome of the presidential election. It was interesting to note that all of the problems associated with the ballot design coincidentally had the greatest impact on Gore’s vote counts. This could mean that a minor flaw in the ballot design was actually major enough to cost Gore the election. This article also addressed a caution in any industrial design – that designers need to understand better the users of their product.

"As we may think"

Written in 1945, this was a highly insightful article on present-day technology and the impact that technology could have on human power, or as Vannevar Bush put it, “the control of his material environment.” In general, it seemed that the author tried to convey a message – that technology is good as long as we can make good uses of it and make our knowledge more accessible. I was specifically amazed at the level of detail that the author put into his analysis on the telephone system and how it could be used to enhance the basic operation of a department store.


[edit] Ryan Shelby 13:32, 24 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes"

This article is a really good example of the power and influence of design. In the article, the effect of 2000 voting ballots design in Florida on the outcome of the 2000 Presidential election is discussed. Due to the horrible design of these ballots, many votes went to the wrong person and/or were disqualified from the official vote count. The ballot flaws greatly affected the votes that went to Al Gore. The designers of these ballots meant to reduce or eliminate voter confusion by creating a replacement for the ballots used in the previous election. Unfortunately, the designers did not test how well these new ballots functioned with voters before putting them in voting locations. As a result, the designers heighten voter confusion on Election Day. The moral of the story: build a design, test design with end users, evaluate data from the user test, modify design, and test again because there is probably something that you still missed.

"As we may think"

I really love this article because Bush talks about creating machines to increase communication between all people. In this article, Bush recognizes that there is tons and tons of information that has been assembled, but is either underused or not used at all. He attributes this lack of use to the fact that the information is not recorded and made accessible to people that may benefit from the information. Bush encourages scientists and engineers to use their respectively talents to advance the knowledge in their fields and to create devices to share that knowledge with others. He lets everyone know that in order for humanity to continue to advance itself, everyone needs to better communicate their ideas and knowledge amongst each other. It up us engineers, scientists, and designers to make sure that it happens.

[edit] Shady Guirguis 19:55, 24 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes”:

This article discusses the various voting difficulties in the 2000 presidential election, misvotes (voting for the wrong candidate), overvotes (voting for more than one person), and undervotes (when it isn’t clear who the vote is for). Using statistics and regression, the author suggests that the errors might have cost Gore his election. Also, it is suggested that these various errors were caused due to the ballot designs. Also he mentions that certain products and models of great importance should be tested before they are used. It was interesting to see the author discuss the concept of memex as well.

“As we may think”:

This article was very interesting as it discussed a different type of perspective regarding technology. We always read and learn about new advances in technology, and that people are trying to develop new ideas. There is no concrete way of learning about technology that already exists around us. The only way to learn about that is by trying to find it. People thought of the PC in 1945, we think of unrealistic technologies now, this means it can all be possible in the future

[edit] Patrick Liu 19:58, 24 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida”

It baffles me to some extent that in a country supposedly united as one; we choose to use different ballots when it comes to voting for our country’s President. I find it absolutely not necessary to have “the butterfly ballot, the two-column and two-page ballots” all used in different states. The statistical analyzers should figure out, based on past data, which method is the most efficient and precise. Then the designers should recognize that there is one way that the ballot should be designed to make the election fair. It is obvious that there would be greater outlier votes and awkward votes in states that used the butterfly ballot because as noted in the picture of the article, it is very confusing. Part of designing a good product is the ease of usability and the prevention of any confusion.

“As We May Think”

The author seemed to understand how technology could benefit mankind and destroy it. The author also seemed to understand the intricacies of technology and how to come about improving it. “Science has provided the swiftest communication between individuals; it has provided a record of ideas and has enabled man to manipulate and to make extracts from that record so that knowledge evolves and endures throughout the life of a race rather than that of an individual.” I strongly agree with the previous sentence, because I feel like technology evolves from a group of people rather than just one individual. If this earth only had a single human being that was capable of living for hundreds of millions of years, I believe that one individual would not be able to come up with all the technology in our world today. Technology consists of the accumulation of past ideas and building upon them. The author mentions quite a few times that some inventions could be sped up or created, but the cost of upgrading or creating would outweigh the necessity. But then the author later notes, “The world has arrived at an age of cheap complex devices of great reliability; and something is bound to come of it.” It seems like the author is a prophet based on the readings, because many of the things the author speaks of are similar if not correct in respect to modern times. In essence the author notes the pros and cons of technology and that human beings could not do without it.

[edit] Michael Lovejoy 21:43, 24 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes”

This article was very eye-opening for me. After the election, I thought to myself, “How could so many people not figure out a simple ballot like that. I admit it could potentially be a little confusing, but it’s really not that hard to figure out.” However, after learning the basic rules of interface design, it is clear that something went wrong in Florida. The brief and concise article gave very good evidence not to prove that Gore should have been elected instead of Bush, but rather that the design of the ballots probably inhibited many people from actually voting the way they intended. While it is not possible to design a ballot that absolutely everyone will be able to figure out, these ballots were so poorly designed that many more people than normal voted incorrectly. I agree with the author’s assertions and studies that show that something was abnormal with the Florida votes. The evidence is clear, and the author makes no assumptions or inferences as to what the political outcome should have been. The author gives pretty good explanations and examples of overvotes and undervotes. Overall, this article was very impressive and convincing.

“As We May Think”

While this article was pretty difficult to read, it was rather insightful, especially for being written in 1945. The author is quite aware of the history of technologies and the implications of the conclusion of World War II. I like the idea that there are many great ideas out there, but with no market under the current conditions or no feasibility with the current technology. However, eventually decent technology will become reality if certain needs are met. It is certainly interesting what physicists could study and create, after developing the most lethal (man-made) weapon in human history. The idea that microfilm was as important for record-keeping in 1945 as it is now (I work in the newspaper/microform department of the library, so it’s still important in my mind!) is fascinating. Microfilm, however, is much more expensive now than the cost given in the article… and the internet is free, so new technology is winning out. Despite the author’s visions of the future, no one could have predicted how far technology has come. Sadly, the article ends with a glum note: humans may destroy each other and the world before we will discover all the good that new discoveries and technology can do. The fact that 1945 would be a bad time to terminate the technological development from WWII is important because this next period in history was pretty economically strong. Overall, this article was insightful, predictive, a little wordy, and a very interesting historical perspective.

[edit] Anar Joshi 15:56, 25 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election”: This article examined the controversy behind the Palm Beach County ballots from the 2000 election from a statistical point of view. The main issue with the Palm Beach County ballots was its butterfly design, which apparently confused the voters, and could have led them to misvote. For example, it was noted that the proportion of votes on election-day ballots for Pat Buchanan were four times as many as those on the absentee ballots. Additionally, many of the ballots had more than one president selected, which is known as overvoting. Upon considering the overvotes as well as conducting regression analysis on the legal Buchanan votes, it has been suggested that the butterfly ballot design is likely to have cost Gore the election. However, the article also explained that the ballot design was not the only cause of problems in Florida and that many voters were wrongfully turned away from the polls. This reminds us that while there are operational problems to consider in any situation, there are always people involved that can worsen these problems.

“As We May Think”: Vannevar Bush is a man that is way ahead of his time that had the ability to realize the potential that people, science, and technology have. The article made references to the great inventions of the past; making it apparent Bush was aware that innovation was something that is at the crux of a society in any time period. As we all know today, technology is at the center of our everyday lives. Bush proposed that technology should combine the importance of the selection process with association. He discussed how selection was essential in a variety of disciplines and that it could be streamlined if it modeled the way human beings thought. His solution was to create what he named a “Memex”, which is a modern-day computer or Internet.

[edit] Rakesh Vij 23:31, 25 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election": In this article three basic issues are discussed about the 2000 presidential elections. As the title suggests misvotes, undervotes and overvotes were a prime factor in the outcome of the election. The article states that in Palm Beach county 3,407 votes were cast for the Reform party, but there is statistical evidence that shows that most of these votes were intended for Gore. The article also notes the significant amount of overvotes that occur ed in the same county. This happens when more than one president is voted for. In addition to these errors the county also has experienced an unusual number of undervotes. Pulling everything together the authors note all of the articles and sources that suggest that all of these errors are results of a very bad ballot design. This article does a great job helping realize the great importance of design. An ideal candidate who won the popular vote lost the US Presidential election due to this error. At the end of the day it wasn't only Gore that lost, the whole US has realized the implications of this erroneous design.

"As we may think": This article written in 1945 by Vannevar Bush is one that greatly caught my interest. Being written in a time the world was submersed in war, the article discusses the issues that we have utilizing science. It says that science has a lot of potential, but that the problem is that there has been no acceleration in which the valuable content is received by whom it can be used. Specifically the article says "is the same as was used in the days of the square-rigged ship." However, change is being seen though as new photo and calculating devices are being created. Additionally radios, light bulbs, and electricity are all being utilized daily, allowing more and more cheap yet complex devices to be created. Now the article brings up the big point of making all of this information available to be consulted by all the scientists so that future progress can be made. For this task the "memex" is invoked. It provides the ability to access valuable information. At the end of the day Bush praises the great ability of science, but looks down upon the way it is utilized to kill in war, and hopes that it be put to other uses but in order to do so the information must be shared freely.

[edit] HAK-SEUNG KIM 22:59, 25 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida" This article tells us how the industrial design important not only for improving our living conditions but also for deciding the national wide issue. With uncareful design, there might be a error on the important decision like election. The author discusses several voting process problem that is occurred by uncareful design such as the punch-card ballot, butterfly ballot, and the two column ballot. That means El Gore might won if we had a better design for the vote. Thus, from this article, we need to learn how the industrial design affects all over the areas.

"As we may think" What are the scientist to do next? That is what exactly we, as an engineer, need to consider. I think that the word “innovation” comes from this kind of positive thinking. We do not know, “what is next technology?” However, we can make a prediction and go for it. Did the old generation know about Hybrid Car? Probably, not many. Even though some scientists knew about it before, they couldn’t make it in the real world. Why? I guess because they did not want to be a pioneer. Also, they did not make any risk. The resources are scarce. We might not be able to stay on the earth anymore 100 years later. What I mean is that we, as what Bush did, need to think really carefully what we going to do for our children’s generation. Let’s make it more risky.


[edit] Erin Palermo 00:42, 26 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes" I had known before of the poor design of the ballots, but it seems almost shocking to me that the design could cause votes to be invalid, because of 'overvoting.' The fact that a poor design made such a huge impact on something of such importance is a good example, or warning, to future designers. I liked reading the statistical analysis of the impact of the design, and found it interesting that it was a 'statistical tie,' without the invalid votes. But this truly is an example of how powerful a design can be!

"As We May Think" This article was really good. Bush has so many great ideas, and I am impressed that he came up with them so early in time! I liked the part about compressing encyclopedias and libraries of millions of volumes into the edge of a desk. Now, with electronic encyclopedias and libraries, these could fit on a usb drive which is as big as your thumbnail. I also liked his vision about 'computing machines.' If only he could see the processing power of computers today... Overall, I liked reading about his ideas.

[edit] Shilpi Verma 00:44, 26 January 2007 (PST)

Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election: This article was really interesting because it dealt with the amazingly controversial election in 2000 between Al Gore and George W. Bush. There were quite a few problems that occurred during the election, but some of the reasons mentioned in this article were really interesting. It never occurred to me that ballot design could even have a plausible impact to cause Gore the election. It is actually really fascinating how important the design of a ballot can be. This article is very well written because it is concise and gives the reader a different perspective in interpreting the results of that election.

As We May Think: This article was a hard read, but still interesting. One of the most interesting aspects was that it was actually written in 1945. For an article written so long ago, the technological ideas and devices were fairly advanced. The level of detail and analysis the author put into the science and technology needs in the future is pretty fascinating. It is really impressive that Bush was able to come up with something very similar to the internet (the “memex”). Many of the ideas that Bush presents are very unique, but some of them are probably not as practical or feasible in today’s world.

[edit] Johannesleholm 00:49, 26 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida"

You know, I really don't understand why this course isn't required. We have seen faulty industrial design result in airplanes crashing into canyon walls, and now it has influenced the election of our nation's president for the first 8 years of the 21st century. It is interesing to see just how complicated these ballot designers make voting. My grandma has a hard enough time figuring out which house is her's when driving home -- how would she figure out the butterfly ballot. And how about those chads? This does teach us just how important industrial design is. It was really interesting to look at the cold raw, hard numbers and statistics about certain anomolies in the election. Bad design is an assualt on the American way of life.

"As we may think"

A true visonary. This was an interesting read because of Bush's uncanny description of what is essentially our internet - 'memex'. Free exchange and access to knowledge in standardized formats available to all. And like his predictions, this collaboration and access has allowed for unprecedented prosperity. But admist this prosperity lies so much poverty, uncertainty, and danger. As various forces pull and push us in one direction or another, we will all come to realize that the only lasting contribution we will leave behind is the knowledge that we instill into the next generation. Perhaps we, like Bush of old, will continue to understand that our efforts in the sciences can have a wonderfully rigid effect on the world, we just need ot understand our priorities and take the risk. In the spirit of this great man, I now predict that in the future we will be able to see 3-d enactments of the encyclopedia all from a 'computing machine' no bigger than an expo white board marker.

[edit] Justin Hsu 03:13, 26 January 2007 (PST)

Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida

The article “Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida” was an interesting read. It really illustrated the serious implications of bad design. While it can never be absolutely proven, the statistical analysis of the votes in Palm Beach County make an extremely convincing argument that the design of the ballot cost presidential candidate Al Gore several thousand votes, and possibly the presidency. I believe that this article highlights the large amount of social responsibility designers must carry. I would be willing to wager that the design of Palm Beach County’s particular ballot did not go through the prototypical development process that we studied in class: prototype, design, evaluate. It seems to me that if the ballot was the subject of user testing, the confusion of the voters could have been recognized much earlier. The fact that this design error came back to haunt them after President Bush had been declared the winner is extremely unfortunate.

As We May Think

The article “As We May Think” was an extremely interesting article indeed. It is really quite amazing that the author wrote it over 60 years ago. I was halfway through the article before I even realized what time period the article was written in! Vannevar Bush was a man ahead of his time in the most literal sense; his premonitions into the development of digital cameras and the internet are uncanny. The context in which he wrote the article is interesting as well, as it is written in a period of war. The author emphasizes the need to utilize the advancement of technology toward accelerating the dissemination of information to the world, rather than just toward the development of weapons. His writing provided an interesting perspective through a unique historical context. Overall, it was enjoyable reading about his ideas and realizing how accurate he ended up being.


[edit] James ChunJye Tong 10:46, 26 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida”

I think this is a very interesting article, I like how it shows statistical analysis to show of the result in Palm Beach County is clearly an outlier. It is ironic that the result of US president’s election was determined by the design of ballot. I am surprised that problem of the design in butterfly ballot has not been discovered until now. I agree with the author that “upgrading voting technology alone will not solve this problem,” it shows how important the design of a product is. A good design should be something that is easy to use, not something that heavily relies on technology. It is important for the designer to make the product easy for the user to understand how it works.

“As we may think”

I think it is very impressive how Bush made those predictions about the technology in the future. I agree with Bush that the scientist should develop tools to make information more accessible instead of advanced weapons for war. I think the concept of memex is interesting, and I think it is amazing how the technology has improved dramatically since Bush wrote this article.

[edit] Joshua Funamura 11:55, 26 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida”

This article gives convincing statistical evidence that the ballot design in Palm Beach County was faulty, causing misvotes, undervotes, and overvotes. The terrible design of the ballots underscores the importance of the iterative design process that we have learned. For a ballot, there is no reason why the design should have anything less than 100% valid votes (barring felon list mistakes). If the ballot designers had observed user tests, they might have discovered their flaws. Another step we learned was plagiarism. If one ballot design works well, why do different counties have fundamentally different voting systems?

“As We May Think”

For his time, Vannevar Bush had amazing insights and influential ideas into what we know as the internet. Long before PCs, web browsers, and Google, he saw the problems associated with the increased specialization of science and the overload of available information without proper organization. The "memex" he describes is basically the concept of wikis and Wikipedia; where information is readily available and searchable. Not unlike Wikipedia, his system features user-compiled mixed media, with "trails of interest" (hyperlinking) that an individual might establish and the computer might suggest, that would be available to a "friend" even years later. This amazing encyclopedia would all be attainable from a desktop. I also liked his discussion of "dry photography" whereby a picture could be taken and quickly viewed and saved to archive, not unlike a Polaroid camera (which he may have been talking about, as it was commercialized only a couple years from this article's publication), or more importantly, a digital camera.


[edit] Megan Whittey 14:47, 26 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election"

I enjoyed reading this article. It provided a little more information and insight on why there was so much controversy in the 2000 Presidential elections. After looking at the butterfly and 2 page ballot it is easy to see why some people would become confused and why it may have led to overvoting, misvoting, or undervoting. This article helps show how important design is in our world and the many unforgettable consequences it may have on people, even our country. Those ballot designs may have even swung the whole election to Bush when it should have been Gore, we will never know for sure though. One thing I wish the article included was if there has been any steps to eliminate this problem for the future and have some type of standarized voting ballot that is easy to read and has been thoroughly tested before the next big election.

"As We May Think"

I liked and disliked this article. It was kind of hard to read and confusing at times but I liked some of the ideas in it. I didn't realize it was written in 1945 until about half way through, which may have been part of my confusion for the first part. I don't think the way he presented his information was the best way he could have done it, which was why it made the article hard to read for me. He seemed very knowledgeable in his writings and the way he described different technologies. I liked how he was looking to how our technology could advance in the future with shrinking/compressing whole encyclopedias and not needing papers. This idea and the 'memex' are basically like our computer today. I feel the computer can become more advanced in going along with his idea of making trials but it was cool that he kind of predicted what would later be invented and where technology would lead us.

[edit] Raymond Kim 15:00, 26 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida”

A nice bit of insight into the presidential elections of 2000, and how product design can play such a crucial role in such monumental events. It was quite surprising to me how poorly the ballots were designed. The errors could have easily been avoided had the ballots been tested with real users. Also surprising was the lack of uniformity across states when it comes to voting methods. Personally, I believe there should be a single voting method across all states in order to avoid errors with archaic voting methods such as punch ballots.

“As We May Think”

This article was incredibly surprising due to amazingly accurate forecasts made by Vannevar Bush. Long before his time, he was able to predict the coming of the modern day internet and continually emphasized the importance of information collection and exchange. At a time when most people thought of the future in simple terms such as flying cars it is truly uncanny to read about Vannevar Bush's unconventional wisdom.

[edit] Monica Tanza 15:26, 26 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes” There are many ways poor design can affect our lives; this article showed how it effected the presidential election in 2000. While the write ups about the graphs made sense, I felt the graphs themselves were very confusing. Throughout the article, I wondered who was responsible for the bad design of the ballots. A lot of the discrepancies in counting ballots could have been caused by Bush supporters with authority to sway the elections. I wondered if the ballot was part of that conspiracy or if it was just another unfortunate mishap on top of everything else. It’s frustrating to realize that bad design can ruin the politics of a country.

“As We May Think” This article (written in 1945) urges scientists done with military work to explore new technologies where the author sees room for a lot of progress. It was interesting to see how closely (and sometimes not as closely) the author predicted machines and technologies that are common today. One example was a walnut sized camera, which, fitting a lot of the descriptions, can best be seen in today’s digital cameras. I found it interesting how even though he was proposing a new technology, he could still not conceive to use new words. Instead, he said the camera would be capable of holding hundreds of “exposures”. I feel this word is outdated and unless one has learned about photography, would not make much since. I also enjoyed how he marveled at how wonderful it’d be to see a picture right after taking it. This is one of the reasons my friends and I love digital cameras.

[edit] Connie 15:32, 26 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida” I'm still amazed that something as small as a ballot design could cause such an unfortunate effect. I think the most important point that comes across in terms of a design perspective is that you really have to look at something from every angle. On one hand, the design of an election ballot should not seem very complicated. On the other, if the event is as big as a presidential election, wouldn't the designer takes more precaution with every aspect of the event? If a satellite were to be designed, the designers would look at every aspect of the design down to the type of paint.

"As We May Think" I'm surprised at how accurate he is about the type of resources that exist in the future. Bush's vision is definitely forward thinking when it comes to how information is accessible in the future. Though, I think that he would be very impressed with the magnitude that we have accomplished since then.

[edit] Bryan Boling

“Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida”

This article was interesting to read because I haven’t really thought about the Palm Beach voter controversy since it happened. When it did happen I was in high school and not legally able to vote, so I never really took the time to understand what the controversy was about. After reading this article it’s quite clear that due to poor ballot design there was mass confusion in the Florida polls. Given the evidence presented here it seems likely that Gore should have won the presidency, but due to the exceptionally large number of overvotes and undervotes it’s impossible to determine what the outcome of the election really should have been. It’s also interesting to note that many of the counties where there were a large number of ballots thrown out were predominantly African-American, who tend to favor Democratic Party candidates. As a fervent democrat I would like to blame this on republican conspiracy, but it is clear that poor design, even of something as simple as a ballot, can cause mass confusion and even elect the most unpopular president in history.

“As We May Think”

This article gave an interesting perspective on the projected advancement of technology, as predicted in the 1940’s. The author, Dr. Bush, seems confident in his predictions about technological advancements, and I think for the most part his expectations have been exceeded at this point in time. As he discusses typewriters and dry film cameras as new exciting technology it’s hard not to think of our digital cameras and how archaic these devices he discusses are. Beyond this discussion of technology, Vannevar Bush also voices the necessity for consolidating and storing a printed record. It’s obvious that he understands the overwhelming amount of information in circulation, and he seems to constantly address the fact that it’s impossible for most people to grasp the majority of information in print. For this reason he seems to imply that we need to store this information in some form, and as he suggests in printed volume. With the advent of computers and electronic storage devices this idea again seems archaic, but nonetheless interesting to note the technological advancement that has occurred over the last 60 or so years.

[edit] Karena 16:27, 26 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida”

After reading this article, I lost my confidence in United States voting system. The author provides some statistics about 2000 President Election in Florida and I was so surprised that there were approximately 3000 misvotes, 10,000 undervotes, and 19,000 overvotes. Since we all have the right and responsibility to choose our ideal President, the voting system should be easy enough for different people to use. However, due to the complicate voting system, President Bush won the election without having majority of people’s vote. I believe this is one of the reasons why people are losing their trust on United States government.

“As We May Think”

fter reading this article by Vannevar Bush, I was surprised by his ability to comment and predict technology evolution. Although he wrote the article in 1945, he accurately predicted the technology at the present day. And I totally agree with his comment that technology can be used in the wrong way. I am an extremely opponent in the issue of human cloning. So we should be very careful to use technology in a proper way.

[edit] Royapakzad 16:44, 26 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida"

Agresti and Presnell’s article is a discussion on the 2000 presidential election in Florida. It was very interesting to found out what exactly went wrong in the voting system. I think the authors did a well-thought and calculated error analysis by demonstrating the statistics on the graphs and showing the effect of the butterfly ballot. The article explains how poor product designs, in this case the voting system, could lead to unfair situations and disasters. However, I was expecting the article to provide the reader with solutions on how to improve the voting systems.

[edit] Richard Chen 17:37, 26 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes”


This article truly opened my eyes to the fact that design could have such a large impact on the way we live—not to mention which president would eventually be elected. I must say that I really cannot believe that no one had been there to actually take a look at the design of those ballots and make sure that it was simple or at least understable—basic elements that are integral for a smooth election process. I can truly now understand why there are so many design cycles that were mentioned to use in class—and why there is a phase that stresses how one should always seek out the user to suggest of any possible improvements. Had the designers of the Florida ballot system used these principles of the design cycle, such inequality and frustration of the Florida vote debacle could have been avoided. I feel that this article—and the whole process of the Florida election—provides an example of what happens when those designing the technology (in this case, the ballots) does not take the user’s experience into account. I am glad that in this course, we will learn the basic principles that will allow us to prevent mistakes like that in the future.


“As We May Think”


This article was truly of a different flavor for a number of reasons. Even though the author was writing in a very different time, he provided some insights on technology that were very big picture perspective. One of the elements that I liked especially about his article was his overriding message that the maximum amount of good and value be derived from technology. This not only means having technology and science be available to those who need it most, but also that technology should be designed with “us” in mind. After reading this article, I was reminded of a quote from Henry David Thoreau—I believe it was something along the lines of how men are becoming the tools of their tools. I believe this article really stresses that we should remain the masters of our creations and make sure that we use the technology that we create as our servants—and not the other way around. Following this simple principle, we can avoid self-sabatoging ourselves via the use of destructive weapsons and technology. In addition, I was reminded of a principle that was brought up in class—that the purpose of design is to better the lives of the users. If we take this and make it into an analogy for technology, then it’s essentially saying that technology should be created and used in a way that gives users the maximum benefit. That’s why we have technology, and why we have science.

[edit] Royapakzad 16:56, 26 January 2007 (PST)

"As We May Think"

Bush’s article is very intriguing, since it discusses one the most revolutionary topics of mankind which is technology. The fact that he predicted how technology would alter our lives in the next 40 years was fascinating. The article call for a better and more peaceful relation between our knowledge and thinking and applying our knowledge towards construction rather than destruction

[edit] Hong How Quek 18:46, 26 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida"

When I first read the article, I was shocked at how such a glaring design error could have occurred in a country considered as the world’s superpower in such a recent time. It is really shocking how an error like these could have slipped through even with all the checks in place, and how damaging a consequence a seemingly harmless design shortcoming had on the election, and the future of the United States. Designing an election ballot seems like a no-brainer, but this fiasco only goes to show how important good design is even for the simplest tasks, and how difficult it is to produce a user-friendly design that is effective, and easily comprehensible to a range of users with different backgrounds.

“As We May Think”

The article was not an easy read, particular because the language used was slightly convoluted and the machines described (from the 1940s and before) are unfamiliar to me. Bush tracks how technology and processes begin from clumsy, faulty and slow beginnings but is continuously refined and improved as time passes, with valuable input from different scientists as time goes on. Indeed, we have to make our repository of knowledge easily accessible, most importantly I feel, so that future scientists can pick up these ideas from where they are left off and combine modern knowledge/technology with seemingly archaic ideas to create new value. Ideas might not have been developed, not because they didn’t have inherent value, but because stifling social/cultural environment or the lack of progress of science did not allow those ideas to flourish at the time when they were proposed. Hence, we must continuously re-look old ideas even as we pursue new, creative ways of doing things.

[edit] Timothy Manglicmot 19:35, 26 January 2007 (PST)

[edit] Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election

This article magnifies the effects of a poor design to the entire world. By having poorly designed ballots in Florida the United States could have had a different president altogether, a consequence which points to how important good designs can be. I believe the designers should have tested their design more thoroughly and thought more about the users before applying their ballots; clearly the ballots were not user friendly as Florida had proportionally more invalid ballots compared with the rest of the nation. With an issue as important as the presidency I would assume designers should take more care in their ballots; hopefully future ballot designers can learn from their mistakes and make better ballots.

[edit] As We May Think

Bush’s aritcle was very astounding if you take into account the date it was written and the conclusions he came up with. Several of his predictions on technology were right on point with what we have today. I think Bush’s profound knowledge of science and his ability to disect the design of certain technologies (e.g. the minor differences between a camera and a televesion) helps in his prediction of future design and what can and can’t work. It is with this knowledge that he can see into how technologies will evolve in the future. It is also interesting to see how technology has progressed from his time to present day as seen in the article. Bush was a very smart individual and I really enjoyed this article.

[edit] YeeWan Cheung 20:37, 26 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida” told a story shows the critical effects of design. Agresti and Presnell provided readers a comprehensive statical analyses on the ballot design-related issues. It showed data supported the design of the butterfly, two-collumn ballot had apparently confused many voters, and led to a voting mistakes being made. It further pointed out the NORC study, which showed “ballot design was critically important, regardless of the technology used”(439). It is important to carry studies like this one, but the more important question to ask is what are we going from here? Learning from the mistakes and making improvements on product design to fit the need of user is what we have inspired from this article.

Bush’s article “As We May Think” was not so easy to read, but it’s interesting to listen an old man’s perspective on the future technology. One thing I found greatly agree with is “the world has arrived at an age of cheap complex devices of great reliability…” This statement still holds true in nowaday. I admire Bush’s ablitily to project the trend of technology ahead to a logical outcome. Examples like the camera was discussed in great detail. I also see the unlimited imagination from Bush’s discussion about dry photography, and this really encouraged me to think outside the box. Thankyou, I really really enjoy reading this article.

[edit] Minhaaj Khan 20:46, 26 January 2007 (PST)

Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida

This article is a prime example of how important it is to avoid poor design, primarily when the fate of a sovereign nation depends on it. Political commentary aside, this article was enlightening and although it didn’t make any claims, it discussed the importance of poor ballot design in the 2000 elections. What baffles my mind is why there wasn’t some sort of government oversight in ballot design, especially with something as important as selecting the leader of your country. But what do you expect when the governor of the state of Florida just happens to be related to a presidential candidate?

As We May Think

This article was an entertaining read. It was very interesting to read the thoughts of one of the most intelligent minds of the time, especially his thoughts on the future of technology. Although Bush was a little bit off in terms of the medium he chose for gathering, sorting, and calling on large amount of information, he was right on in his assumption that we would find an efficient way to store knowledge and access information. The “memex” he talks about conceptualizes part of what a computer does today. Although not very surprising considering he knew the technology and its potential at the time, his foresight is definitely something to be admired.

[edit] Michael Toulouse 22:55, 26 January 2007 (PST)

Agresti and Presnell

This is not really an article, but rather a normal research paper, and so it goes for thoroughness rather than any semblance of literary merit. That being said, it's nice to see solid numbers and the actual statistical analysis behind what was such a contentious topic six years ago, the florida election fiasco. It's less likely that the numbers were all cherry-picked, because too many relevant numbers are presented. Other than the charts showing Palm Beach as a clear outlier, a very boring read.

"As We May Think"

Vannevar Bush's article was very interesting, if nothing else for his attempts to predict technological advances in the future. His successes were interesting, and so were his misses. The prediction about microfilm reminded me of how a good amount of science-fiction literature predicted the same, and a good while later. The article was written two years before the invention of the transistor, so his prediction of arithmetic machines 100 times faster is understandable but still entertaining. His mentions of selection methods get a little dry, but when he speaks of information storage by association, it reads like a modern day exploration of wikipedia.

[edit] Patricia Wang 23:32, 26 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida”

I enjoyed the article’s breakdown of the possible factors which affected the election process as well as the statistical analysis of some of the anomalies found in the results. This article definitely demonstrated the importance of design, since despite the differences in technological sophistication among different counties, there were still discrepancies in voting behavior purely based on the ballot design.

“As We May Think”

Bush definitely had a great instinct for technological advancement. Throughout this article, he seems to really have a vision for the possibilities and likely directions technology would take. What I enjoyed most was his portrayal of the “memex,” which of course described functions performed largely by modern day computers. It was really impressive how clearly Bush could articulate this idea of a vast database, offering the possibility of traversing a web of associated interests, much like the Internet we have today.

[edit] Umber Masood 23:41, 26 January 2007 (PST)

“Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida”

It was interesting to read statistical analysis about the votes in Palm Beach County, Florida that were taken using the butterfly ballot. This reading highlighted the bad design of the ballot and illustrated how costly it was, saying that it is possible that the butterfly ballot cost Al Gore the election. I think the butterfly ballot should have been tested before being put to use in the election. Voting officials may have been able to realize some of the design flaws in the ballot design had they tested the ballot prior to the election. This reading showed how important design is.

“As we may think”

This article discussed many technologies and how they have changed over time. Bush talks about how technology has improved lives, such as how deaf people can now be able to hear. This article made me think about the different technologies that are used everyday, and I realized that we use computers for almost everything. From reading the newspaper, to registering for classes, every task is done using a computer. The use of computers and other technologies today has greatly changed our lives for the better. Bush also talks about how the human mind cannot be duplicated artificially. He gives some examples of technologies that are complex and that try to work like the human brain. Although the human mind is very complex, I do not doubt that technologies may be invented that work very much like the mind.

[edit] Esha Datta 21:08, 27 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election in Florida"

This article truly illustrates how important good design can be. After reading through the statistics, it makes it clear that the ballot design could have ended up deciding who the next president was. This article makes me wonder how this system of voting was design and whether any testing was done before it was implemented. I would be very interested in learning how the designers made their decisions when creating this system.

"As We May Think"

It was extremely interesting to read Bush's predictions for future technologies in hindsight. Although he may have been off on the specifics of how a problem might be solved, he was usually correct in identifying the correct problem. For example, his description of a "memex" seemed to mirror information sources that are now available on the internet. This article is interesting to consider as we make predictions today about the future of technology.

[edit] Shwan Kazzaz 10:38, 29 January 2007 (PST)

Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes: This article brought up some interesting points about the 2000 election that I never knew existed. The most interesting of which, is the fact that the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago actually statistically evaluated the rejected ballots and came to the decision that the gap between Bush and Gore was actually smaller than 537 votes. I also think that the fact that there were so many illegal votes is a sad part of our system that perhaps can be solved by unique design processes. Or perhaps it is just an administrative issue.

As we may think: I found this article to be pompous and wordy. But I think it delivered a worthwhile message. The notion that the methods of understanding previous research are antiquated and must be re-evaluated is one that is constantly being attacked by various computerized solutions. This is a field of interest to me, as I will be going into information management once I graduate, working in Lab informatics. The idea here is that information must be stored, organized, and accessed in a manner that is flexible and intuitive such that any scientist can use the system to educate his or herself.

[edit] Christopher Ling 15:47, 29 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes, and Overvotes: The 2000 Presidential Election"

I enjoyed reading this article, which discussed many of the statistical issues involved in the 2000 Presidential election. The study examined the key area of Palm Beach, Florida, where the poor design of the ballot led to voters unintentionally voting for the wrong candidate, which may have cost Al Gore thousands of votes. I knew that there was a controversy regarding this issue, but this article gave me more insight on the specific details, such as the types of votes that occurred (misvotes, undervotes, and overvotes).

“As We May Think”

I felt this article was pretty technical in its portrayal of various technologies that were described by Bush. Bush displayed his intelligence in being able to predict and suggest some ideas that are actually used today. I especially enjoyed the description of the “Memex”, which was basically our information super-highway.

[edit] Fenelia Kosasih 09:43, 31 January 2007 (PST)

"Misvotes, Undervotes and Overvotes"

Through the controversy that happens in the presidential election in Florida in year 2000, Agresti and Presnell describes how a bad design can generate a major issue, such that it is believed to have indirectly altered the result of a presidential election. The confusing ballot design is believed to have resulted in voters who wanted to vote for Al Gore to vote for another candidate. The spaces between the punchholes are too close together such that the confusion can occur. I believe that if the holes from the 2 pages do not share the same single alignment (maybe separated into 2 separate pages), the ballot design will be much less confusing.

It seems pretty obvious at first glance (without even the need of testing it on users) that the design can potentially lead to confusion since the arrows are so close to each other. It makes me wonder if the designer had chosen to ignore this fact on purpose or it was really a negligence on his side that he failed to take notice of the potential confusion.

"As we may think"

This article is a rather difficult read, but nevertheless, I am intrigued by Bush's accuracy in predicting modern day technologies like modern day PC and internet, which matches his visualization of "memex". His knowledge of the technologies of his time is also impressive. It is interesting to evaluate the advancement in technologies from then till the present day. His visualization of modern day technologies, which may be seen as crazy and unrealistic during his time, goes to show that with time and effort, these crazy ideas of technologies may eventually be realized.

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