The hellscape of DMV inaccessibility (SBLTN Lab Notes 051)
Principles of "calm tech", AI dabbling in diversity, and inaccessibility of a driver safety course
IN THE MARGINS
👋🏽 Long time, no chat. Thanks for sticking around. Let’s get back to it!
ACCESSIBILITY
What drove me mad? The inaccessibility of a driver safety course.
Because it costs money to even breathe air, I pinch pennies where I can. That includes my car insurance cost. In the US, the Department of Motor Vehicles offers a discount if you take a defensive driver safety course. Anyone that has been to the DMV knows what a hellscape it can be. Luckily, they offer the course online as well as in-person. Opting for the online version, I thought it would be a breeze.
Walk with me…
Biometric Verification
I assume the little jerks don’t want someone else taking the online course for you, so for “security” purposes they force you into voice recognition. Not only did this feel quite invasive (what the hell are you doing with my voice sample data?) but inaccessible for those who are non-verbal or don’t have access to a device with a microphone. (Yes, libraries are still a thing. Can you imagine taking this in the middle of a public computer room?)
I did see a little note stating “If you are deaf or hearing-impaired, please contact our customer care via Live Chat to discuss your identity validation options”. I was ready to let them claw back a point but it got quickly snatched away for using “hearing-impaired” instead of hard of hearing #IAmPetty
Timed Validation
Because again, they were on their “don’t cheat the system” bullshit, they put in even MORE “security” measures: security questions that had to be answered within seconds. What about people with poor dexterity or cognitive disabilities and need more time to read/process the question?
Speaking of being timed…
They only gave 5 minutes to complete the quizzes after each info-dumping module. This is especially challenging in modules with a lot of stats and you don’t know which you’ll be quizzed on. What about people with short term memory, that read slower than average, or have dyslexia? If someone is already an anxious test-taker, this would probably stress them out times 10! I tossed a point back their way because at least they had the audio/voiceover of the text in the modules.
They forced a minimum amount of time to be spent in a module. This seemed like yet another way to ~punish~ people that take the course online instead of in-person. The minimum time required to be spent in each module seemed to be based on the length of the audio file - not any length of time tied to an educational purpose.
I’m a try-hard so I passed all the quizzes at 100% BUT it seemed like they relied solely on color-coding when showing you right and wrong answers (green and red, respectively). It’s possible they used shapes as well - such as checkmarks and X’s but ya girl aced all hers so I can’t prove it haha
Websites and platforms for government and public services are teased about being outdated visually but when the actual functionality hinders access, then we have a real problem. At least I saved a couple of bucks and avoided going to the 10th circle of Hell 🔥
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
AI dabbling in diversity
Adobe wants to add some A.I. (artificial intelligence) into diversity, equity, and inclusion. The company is seeking to patent a system for “diversity auditing” using computer vision. Essentially, this system uses facial detection and image classification to break down photos of employees and slot them into categories based on certain physical traits and characteristics. (Source)
This is quite troubling to me for a variety of reasons: inherent biases in AI, surveillance capitalism, facial recognition to create and reinforce discriminatory policies, violation of privacy rights and personal freedoms, and misrepresentation for invisible identity indicators (e.g. gender identity vs gender expression). It’s definitely a case of where intent and impact probably won’t match up (and that’s assuming Adobe’s intentions are actually half decent - which I don’t think they are…)
ART & DESIGN
Is a calm tech era possible? 💾
The terms “calm computing” and “calm technology” were coined in 1995 by PARC Researchers Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown in reaction to the increasing complexities that information technologies were creating. In 2015, Amber Case dramatically expanded on the concept and defined the core principles.
Principles of Calm Technology
Technology should require the smallest possible amount of attention
Technology can communicate, but doesn’t need to speak.
Create ambient awareness through different senses.
Communicate information without taking the user out of their environment or task.
Technology should inform and create calm
A person's primary task should not be computing, but being human.
Give people what they need to solve their problem, and nothing more.
Technology should make use of the periphery
A calm technology will move easily from the periphery of our attention, to the center, and back.
The periphery is informing without overburdening.
Technology should amplify the best of technology and the best of humanity
Design for people first.
Machines shouldn't act like humans.
Humans shouldn't act like machines.
Amplify the best part of each.
Technology can communicate, but doesn’t need to speak
Does your product need to rely on voice, or can it use a different communication method?
Consider how your technology communicates status.
Technology should work even when it fails
Think about what happens if your technology fails.
Does it default to a usable state or does it break down completely?
The right amount of technology is the minimum needed to solve the problem
What is the minimum amount of technology needed to solve the problem?
Slim the feature set down so that the product does what it needs to do and no more.
Technology should respect social norms
Technology takes time to introduce to humanity.
What social norms exist that your technology might violate or cause stress on?
Slowly introduce features so that people have time to get accustomed to the product.
See examples of calm tech at the Calm Technology website.
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Signing off from the Starship SBLTN,
Laneen (Pronouns: she/they)
HEARD IN THE HALLWAYS
Even though everyone is done with their “new year, new me” phase and “end of year recaps”, I think you can celebrate your wins year-round!
A visual identity I did is a 3-time winner! Thanks to MFA Design for Social Innovation (DSI) at School of Visual Arts (SVA) in NYC for letting me run wild!
2023 Gold Winner in Education for Social Change
2023 Silver Winner in Branding for Services - Other
2023 Silver Winner in Branding for Social Change
I might mess around and make stuntin’ a habit 🤭
📖 Reading: “The Universe is already in its sixth and final era” (article)
💬 Quote: "The three components of happiness are something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to." - Dr. Gordon Livingston, in his book, “Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart: Thirty True Things You Need to Know Now”
✔️ Random Fact: Vatican City is actually the smallest country in the world at only 0.2 miles wide.
I'm incredibly late to the party but Adobe is doing WHAT? I think it's time we unplug the machines. Both to save us from whatever that hellscape is and because after reading through the calm technology section, our tech is anything but calm.
Congrats on winning those awards!! Amazing!!! So well deserved 🎉
And congrats on being a smarty pants and acing the DMV test. My guess is the incorrect answers were an "X" but we'll never know 😆