Lucy Suchman and her impact

Lucy Suchman’s work revolutionised the way we evaluate whether technology effectively serves users by shifting the focus from design intentions to actual human interactions. Her influential study at Xerox, where she observed how people struggled with seemingly straightforward photocopiers, demonstrated that technology often fails not because of user incompetence, but due to design assumptions that don’t align with real-world practices. Suchman’s ethnographic approach highlighted the importance of context, showing that technology must fit into the nuanced ways people behave and solve problems in specific situations.

Her research revealed that interaction with technology is not simply about following instructions; it’s an adaptive, social process. Rather than treating users as passive operators, Suchman advocated for participatory design—an approach where designers actively engage with end-users during the development process. This insight underscored the importance of creating technologies that support users’ natural workflows, rather than expecting people to conform to rigid machine logic.

Thanks to Suchman, human-centred design has become a fundamental principle in technology development today. Her work reminds us that no design can be evaluated in isolation—it only “works” when it fits the practices, environments, and needs of the people who use it.

GUI and Personal Computer

Graphical User Interfaces, also known as GUI, have evolved significantly since the early days of the Macintosh and Windows. In the 1980s, GUIs were revolutionary, introducing windows, icons, menus, and pointers—commonly referred to as the WIMP model. Early designs were simple, relying heavily on pixel-based graphics with limited colours and low resolution, but they laid the foundation for user-friendly computing. With time, advancements brought smoother icons, better fonts, and richer visual elements as systems transitioned from monochrome to full-colour displays.

While much has changed, several core elements of those early GUIs remain familiar. Desktop metaphor, taskbars, and file explorer still shape how users interact with computers. The structure of drop-down menus and drag-and-drop functionality has endured, providing continuity across generations. This consistency ensures that users who learned on older systems can still navigate modern ones with ease.

Despite these advancements, some areas of improvement remain. As technology progresses, GUIs should become more adaptive and accessible. Many modern interfaces are cluttered or overcomplicated, creating challenges for users with diverse needs. Future improvements should focus on seamless integration of voice commands, better support for touch and gesture interfaces, and improved accessibility options. As technology evolves, interfaces must remain simple, elegant, and inclusive for everyone.

“From Copiers to User Experience: How Lucy Suchman Changed the Way We Design Technology”

Lucy Suchman’s work has had a huge impact on how we think about the relationship between people and technology. I watched a video of her research at Xerox on how people use photocopiers, and it made me realize that we often think that if something works technologically, it should also work for people. But that’s not always the case.

In her famous study, Suchman observed how copier operators dealt with the machines, despite the fact that the designers thought they had created user-friendly technology. The glaring problem was that people often used copiers in unexpected ways or misunderstood the instructions, leading to frustration. This isn’t because the user is doing something “wrong” – it’s because the design doesn’t take into account the real-world behaviors and needs of the people using the machine.

Suchman introduced the concept of “situated action,” whereby how people use technology depends on the context in which they find themselves. It’s not enough to design something that works in theory; it must also work in real life and take into account all the unpredictability that comes with it. Her work has made designers and researchers aware that human behavior is flexible and often improvisational. It changes the idea that we only need to “train” users to use technology correctly.

In her reading, Suchman’s argument was that in order to design better technology, we need to observe and engage users throughout the design process. This idea is now at the heart of user-centered design, which focuses on understanding the needs of users, not just on making technically complex things.

Lucy Suchman’s work

Lucy Suchman’s work at Xerox PARC changed the way we think about designing technology by focusing on how real people interact with it. In her research, she observed how employees struggled to use Xerox copiers, even though the machines were intended to be user-friendly. She found that there was often a gap between how engineers thought people would use the copiers and how they actually did. Her observations highlighted that understanding users’ real-world behaviors and contexts is crucial for creating technology that genuinely works for them.

She pushed for a shift in tech design—moving from just making things “intuitive” to truly understanding how people integrate technology into their everyday lives. Her approach emphasized that effective design comes from observing and learning from users, not just assuming they’ll adapt to a product. This user-centered approach remains foundational in fields like human-computer interaction, reminding us that the key to good design is putting people first.

Lucy Suchman’s human center design&research

Lucy Suchman’s work, her study of Xerox photocopier operators, changed how people think about technology design by emphasizing the importance of real-world context. She shows that people did not follow a rigid, predictable process when using machines such as photocopiers, but instead adapted and improvised. Her research claims that technology should be designed with these human behaviors in mind, considering how people naturally interact with systems rather than expecting them to follow predefined instructions. From technology-centered design to a more human-centered approach, ensuring technology works better for people in real life.

Response of – Lucy Suchman

-KY (Yujie Yin

Lucy Suchman’s work has changed the way we think about the interaction between people and technology, from humans to machines to machines. She challenged the dominant view, emphasizing the importance of “situational action,” where users constantly adapt their actions to the specific environment they are in, rather than just following instructions. This shifts the focus from refining systems based on idealized use cases to understanding how people actually use and interact with technology in real-world environments.

Technology design should accommodate the fluidity and unpredictability of human behavior, making interactions more intuitive and adapting to user needs, rather than expecting users to follow rigid workflows. This has had a profound impact on interaction design, leading to more user-centric and context-sensitive techniques.

She pioneered the idea of human-centered interaction, which is what I’m learning now. “What might users think“

Lucy Suchmanm

Lucy Suchman’s work, especially her observations at Xerox with copier operators, fundamentally shifted our understanding of human-computer interaction (HCI). She emphasized that technology should not be seen as something that users passively interact with but rather as something that requires ongoing, situated practice. Her ethnographic studies showed that users often adapt and improvise around technologies in unexpected ways, highlighting that design needs to consider real-world contexts, not just idealized use cases.

Her insights led to a focus on “situated action,” where technology is assessed based on how well it integrates with users’ everyday routines and environments. This perspective encourages designers to consider the dynamic, often unpredictable nature of human behavior, making user-centered design practices more adaptable and context-aware.

Amazing Research From Lucy Suchmanm

Lucy Suchmanm, did wonderful job in the Xerox PARC, whcih research to see that enhanced real world context play a important role in the tech design, and it will change human’s perspective towards technologies from roots. Her most influential contribution is studied how people use of Xerox copiers and shows the difference in design thinking and real user experience.

Traditionally, tech design is base on a hypothesis that if user simply follow the order that machine can work effectively, However, Suchmanm’s ethnographic approach says people will not strictly follow the logic or linear standard to control a machine, instead, they will do the opposite, they create, they freestyle, which the real life situation is much more complex and disorder then the expectation.

This work from her makes the human interaction and tech design wellspread and emphasis the human center design as well as the context aware system. Designers now focus more on how technology fits into users’ everyday practices and how system operate to cooperate into the distinctive real life environments.



Lucy Schuman’s work changed our mind

Lucy Suchman’s work at Xerox changed how we think about whether the technology we design actually works for people. Users often struggle with technology not because they lack skill but because the design doesn’t match how they naturally interact with the world. For example, the copiers were designed with complex instructions that didn’t align with how people usually use machines, leading to errors and frustration. Understanding real user behavior is key to making technology more intuitive and user-friendly.

I think that we can’t just assume a design will work because it looks good or follows technical standards. We need to observe and listen to how people actually use technology in their daily lives. It’s about designing systems that adapt to human behavior rather than forcing users to adapt to the system. This user-centered approach is essential for creating technology that truly works for people.

Lucy Suchman’s Impact on HCI: Embedding Technology in Social Contexts

Lucy Suchman, a cultural anthropologist and researcher, has significantly influenced the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) and the way we understand how technology fits into people’s lives. Her work has shifted the perspective from viewing technology as a neutral tool to recognizing it as deeply embedded within social and cultural contexts. Here’s how her contributions have impacted our understanding:

1. Contextual Design: Suchman emphasizes that human-computer interaction occurs in a specific context. Dynamic interactions with the material and social world constantly construct and reconstruct human behavior.

2. Challenging simplistic usability concepts: She witnessed the shortcomings of systems that didn’t fit into existing workflows at Xerox PARC. This made her challenge the traditional, simplistic notions of usability. The effectiveness of technology depends on how well it integrates into users’ real-world contexts and workflows, she demonstrated.

3. User-Centered Design: Suchman’s critique led to a greater emphasis on user-centered design practices. Instead of designing technology based solely on functional specifications, designers began to focus more on the needs, behaviors, and contexts of actual users. This shift encouraged designers to involve users in the design process to ensure that the technology is usable and useful in real-world situations.

4. Social and Cultural Dimensions: Suchman emphasized that people use technology not in isolation, but rather within a broader social and cultural framework. This insight has enhanced our comprehension of how to seamlessly integrate technologies into people’s everyday practices and interactions.

5. Interaction and Collaboration: Her work also underscored the collaborative nature of many tasks, showing that technology should support group activities and interactions. This has implications for designing systems that facilitate communication and collaboration among users.

Thought about Lucy Suchmanm

Lucy Suchmanm’s research at Xerox truly began to involve the interaction between humans and machines. She believes that user behavior is not always based on the intentions involved or predictable in advance. She believes user actions stem from the environment and state they wish to use. Lucy believes that when using a printer (early PC), users do not need to follow the operating instructions step by step to print strictly, but can more intuitively help users improvise their needs. She hopes to encourage printer designers to pay more attention to user interaction and adaptability, emphasizing the importance of designing based on people’s actual behavior in practice.

Design and AI: Swissnex Field Trip

The Swissnex exhibition introduced to me a very interesting and different perspective of AI. There’s a lot of controversy regarding AI art, but it was very interesting to hear them validate its use. For example, the hours upon hours of prompting and generating to get the desired outcome, as well as the very innovative projects that are a byproduct of that: the fire on white background, the old sculptural-esque piece, and the videos of using AI in our daily lives.

While I do think that the field trip was a cool experience, my views on AI and art still remain the same (using AI ≠ artist). It is one thing to use it to help with a process (typically for ideation or consolidation of thoughts), but to create a piece entirely with AI is a whole other story. Generative images pose a lot of interesting questions, but calling it “art” is where I would personally draw the line.

The Work of Lucy Suchman

Lucy Suchman had an understanding of people and human society. She used this knowledge to improve the understanding of how design works for people. Lucy had a video recorded of people trying to use a copier machine and struggling greatly. She was one of the early people that would observe how users interact with working prototypes. By understanding the behavior of the user, we can better design with the user in mind. If the user finds something unclear, then that’s a sign that we need to make the design more intuitive. It is extremely important to test prototypes on someone to see if it makes sense or if there are any issues. If we don’t test prototypes, then we could waste time creating a flawed design or a design that doesn’t fulfill its goal well. We use Suchman’s concept of testing prototypes today, and it’s vital to the design process.

The thought about Swissnex exhibition

shuoning.liang

The exhibition, featuring work by students from the University of Art and Design Geneva, was held at Swissnex in San Francisco and provided a fascinating glimpse into the future of art, design and technology. The projects on display reflected a range of innovative approaches that combined traditional art practices with cutting-edge digital technologies, embodying a spirit of experimentation and interdisciplinary collaboration. I was intrigued by the projects and works on display, including the film produced using AI, which effectively embodied the future of the integration of art and technology. But I was also confused by the little game about submarines. I really couldn’t understand what it needed to say, and I couldn’t even play it.

However, the students’ work explored themes such as identity, sustainability, and the impact of technology on society. Some works delved into personal narratives and used multimedia installations or interactive formats to engage audiences in new ways. These projects challenged traditional art forms and used virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and other digital tools to push the boundaries of art while reflecting on the impact of these technologies.

Overall, the exhibition not only celebrated the students’ creativity, but also invited viewers to reflect on the changing relationship between technology and human experience. It emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary exchanges in shaping the future of art and design.

“Xerox Star: The Forgotten Pioneer That Shaped Modern Computing”

The Xerox Star, released in 1981, didn’t sell well, but it changed the future of personal computing in big ways.

The Star was the first system to use a graphical interface with icons, windows, and a mouse. Before this, people used text commands to control computers, which wasn’t easy for non-experts. The GUI made computers much more approachable for everyday users.

It also introduced the idea of a desktop with files and folders represented as icons, similar to a real desk. This made organizing digital files more intuitive.
Even though it wasn’t a commercial success, the Star heavily influenced later systems like Apple’s Macintosh and Microsoft Windows. A lot of what we consider standard today—like drag-and-drop and networked offices—originated from the Xerox Star.

In short, the Xerox Star set the foundation for the personal computers we use now, making them more user-friendly and practical.

Field Trip: Exploring Creativity at an Exhibition of Works from the University of Art and Design Geneva

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Visiting an exhibition of student work at the University of Art and Design Geneva was an inspiring experience. From experimental typography to interactive installations, the work on display reflected a wide variety of creativity. What stood out to me was the conceptual depth behind each project – the design outcomes were formed with a clear emphasis on research and critical thinking.

One installation in particular caught my eye, which utilized motion sensors to create an interactive light display. It’s not just about the technology – the project explores the relationship between human existence and environmental impact, making viewers think about how our actions affect the world around us.

There were also a number of works of very interesting degrees that drew one to think about the relationship between humans and AI today, and the benefits that AI can bring. I think the work about the flame is also very interesting, at first I thought it was just an ordinary photography, but after I understood it, I realized that it has a deeper meaning, which provokes me to think about AI.

All in all, this exhibition gave me a sense of the power of design to challenge convention and push boundaries. As a student of interaction design, seeing how other people solve design problems in innovative ways encourages me to keep experimenting and questioning traditional methods. It reminded me that design is not only about aesthetics, but also about creating meaningful experiences that resonate with people on a deeper level.

“Designing with Empathy: Lessons from the AR Tour”

Attending the BayCHI presentation on “Co-Designing the Thamien Ohlone Augmented Reality Tour” was a one-of-a-kind experience that helped me understand interaction design better. The emphasis on co-design with indigenous populations stood out to me. It was more than just producing an AR tour; it was also about collaborating with the Thamien Ohlone people to tell their own experiences.

This collaborative approach prompted me to reconsider how I could more completely engage people in the design process. I was also fascinated by the application of augmented reality. Instead than simply overlaying facts, it enabled narrative that brought the Ohlone people’s history to life, linking the past and the present. This got me thinking about how AR could be used in other educational or historical contexts, producing.

This presentation prompted me to reflect on my own work. I want to experiment with more ways to include augmented reality into my ideas, and I am motivated to think more carefully about the cultural and ethical implications of my designs. Most importantly, I will consider how to incorporate people into the design process in order to develop experiences that actually resonate with them.

Thoughts on the Swissnex exhibition

The exhibition at Swissnex, showcasing work from students at the Geneva University of Art & Design, is a fresh and engaging look at how AI and art can come together. The students have used AI in unexpected ways, creating everything from generative art pieces to interactive installations that challenge how we think about creativity. Although one of the projects featuring AI-generated movie scenes felt a bit unpolished, the other artworks far exceeded my expectations and opened up new perspectives on viewing art. It’s the kind of work that made me pause and think about what happens when AI steps into the role of co-creator.

The exhibition’s home at Swissnex feels like the perfect fit for these innovative projects. It’s a space that’s all about blending science, technology, and creativity, and this show captures that spirit. The variety of approaches on display—some exploring AI’s storytelling potential, others questioning its ethical challenges—sparks conversations about how AI is shaping the world around us. Ultimately, the exhibition paints a picture of a future where technology and art collaborate to open up new ways of seeing and creating.

Swissnex AI Exhibition

The Genova exhibition was a refreshing experience, especially given the mixed feelings about AI in the past couple years. Their work validates the argument that AI is art and that AI + artists can be a powerful team. Though many say AI is a cheat way to make quick art, the outcomes of these pieces were a byproduct of hours upon hours of prompt generating, altering, and tweaking inputs to achieve their desired output. Though, I do acknowledge AI art is a rather controversial topic for artists. I have met people who are adamant that AI art is not art, some that are concerned about its credibility, some who believe AI can be an artistic medium. To see artists embracing the positive connotations of AI in their work feels radical. It challenges the hackneyed perspective that AI is bad and withdraws creativity.

I particularly appreciate the photograph capturing fire behind a white background, knowing the trickiness of photographing fire especially on a pure white background. Something about the crispness and otherworldliness of this simple photograph. Closer to photography aligning with the way I perceive in real time. AI cameras, clearly photograph the moon and sun on our phones. Which currently pixelation and time to manually focus on objects. To ask myself what is the future of photo editing as AI is being imbedded in editing softwares such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom.

AI Arts Surprise Me

Firstly, all AI-generated Arts give me a cyberpunk and interactive feeling.

Regarding the cyberpunk feel, some posters have cool colors like blue, purple, and green, as well as warm colors like red, orange, and yellow. These color combinations create a mysterious, dreamy, and technologically advanced atmosphere. The use of materials like metal and glass also adds to the cyberpunk texture of the posters.

As for the interactive feel, one work connects games and movies, allowing players to play a mobile adventure game while watching movie clips. It cleverly combines games and movies, allowing the audience to participate in the mobile adventure game while watching movie clips. This interactive design not only firmly grabs the audience’s attention but also invites the audience to actively participate in the work.


On the other hand, I also appreciate the entire studio’s layout and decoration. The studio provides a spacious exhibition hall, a comfortable rest area, an open discussion area, an office area, and even a balcony facing the sea. The studio uses warm tones. I think no one can refuse to work in such a beautiful studio. I hope CCA can learn more from them, and CCA folks also want such a campus environment!