Humans, servants and agents: human factors of intelligent domestic products

The paper discusses some of the key human factors issues in the development of intelligent domestic products. The issues of automation and skill, and allocation of function are discussed. While these issues may not appear relevant to domestic products, it is shown how they can influence the usability of the products. Following this, a four level classification of products is presented as: manual, servants, agents and symbiotic. Each level has different requirements for human factors. However, a key issue is the communication of information between user and product, and the users' mental model of the product. The design of the interface, coupled with the users' knowledge of the product, will have a bearing on the ease with which the product will be used.