Reflection on To Err is Human

I connected with this chapter the best because I found it the most interesting. Sometimes I am a very clumsy person, and I'm glad that the developers who worked on OS X kept human error in mind when designing their OS. The chapter talks about how some people need feedback to prevent errors, such as "Are you sure you want to close without saving?" and "Are you sure you want to empty the trash? This cannot be undone". This kind of feedback helps to not only prevent slips, but also helps protect the people who might not be as "tech-savy" as the average person. Another piece of good design advice this chapter discusses is to have an option for users to undo actions. I could not agree with this more, I find that my fingers instinctively know to go right to "apple/command+z" anytime I screw something up. I've even found myself doing it while doing homework in a completely analog environment! Another piece of good interface design discussed is the idea of preventing users from putting themselves in a dangerous situation that could potentially severely damage the interface. For example, OS X hides important folders, and Windows warns you when you are about to tamper with sensitive files, and won't even let you access some of the more sensitive areas.