Designing to handle PANIC!

1
PANIC! PANIC! PANIC!
PANIC! PANIC! PANIC! PANIC!
PANIC! PANIC! PANIC!
PANIC! PANIC! PANIC! PANIC!
PANIC! PANIC! PANIC!
2
PANIC! PANIC! PANIC!
2/7

• Panic can render people useless and have
  catastrophic effects.
• Panic is well-studied, how to design for it is
  not.
• It is hard to deal with once it occurs, and
  should thus be avoided.
• If you cant design to avoid it, design to lessen
  its dangerous effects.

Luis Diego Cabezas Ulate Olin College Human
Factors Interaction Design 10/14/2005
3
PANIC! makes users useless
3/7

• A scuba diver thinks he has no air and swims
  frantically to the surface, causing his lungs to
  explode. His tank was full.
• As a car rolls towards a group of people, the
  driver slams on the accelerator thinking it is
  the brake. He notices something is wrong but
  presses harder, certain his foot is on the brake.
• A pilot flying solo hears a banging sound, and
  looks frantically for the source, allowing the
  plane to nose-dive and crash. It was a seatbelt
  buckle that got trapped outside by the door.
• At a formal dinner, a woman rises quietly and
  walks to the bathroom, where she dies from the
  piece of food stuck in her throat. She was too
  embarrassed to inform anyone.

Luis Diego Cabezas Ulate Olin College Human
Factors Interaction Design 10/14/2005
4
PANIC! is well studied
4/7
Panic is a discrete period of intense fear or
discomfort that is accompanied by at least 4 of
13 somatic or cognitive symptoms... often
accompanied by a sense of imminent danger or
impending doom and an urge to escape or
flee. Anxiety elicits evasive action panic
occurs when we cant do anything, or choose the
wrong action, or when it has ineffective or
incomprehensible results.
Luis Diego Cabezas Ulate Olin College Human
Factors Interaction Design 10/14/2005
5
Symptoms of PANIC!
5/7

• Accelerated heart rate
• Sweating
• Trembling or shaking
• Sensation of shortness of breath
• Chest pain
• Nausea
• Feeling dizzy or faint

• Feeling dizzy or faint
• Derealization or depersonalization
• Fear of losing control or going crazy
• Fear of dying
• Paresthesias (tingling sensations)
• Chills or hot flushes

Luis Diego Cabezas Ulate Olin College Human
Factors Interaction Design 10/14/2005
6
Ways of reducing PANIC!
6/7

• Competence training simulations lead to
  understanding of how to respond.
• Desensitization causing real panic and fear
  improves natural response.
• Product design better design avoids interaction
  mistakes and lessens their effects.

Luis Diego Cabezas Ulate Olin College Human
Factors Interaction Design 10/14/2005
7
Product design PANIC!
7/7

• Identify the sources of panic in studies.
• Offer a gentle initial learning curve.
• Ensure early success experiences.
• Take the for power users feel out of products.
• Let it be fast, familiar, and forgiving.
• Approach software and product design as if you
  were designing for airplanes.

Luis Diego Cabezas Ulate Olin College Human
Factors Interaction Design 10/14/2005