Human-Centered Cognitive Orthoses: Artificial Intelligence for, Rather than Instead of, the People

WINTER 2015 9 Human-centered design aims to create technology that fits the capabilities and needs of people, including their practices and learning processes. A human-centered approach can be contrasted with a technology-centered design process in which how people interact with a system comes last, proceeding from automating functions to developing an interface, and then teaching people to use the interface. Human-centered design begins by characterizing the interests, capabilities, and limitations of individuals (or groups) with respect to the underlying activity the new design will address. This often involves an earlier partnership between the designer and end users who together iteratively experiment with and improve prototypes. In this manner, the design may be refined and adapted to changes in work or life practices and exploit new opportunities the technology itself enables. When we think about prosthetic devices, we typically picture devices that substitute for missing limbs (for example, prosthetic legs) or sensory capabilities (for example, cochlear implants) to restore or extend an individual’s capabilities. But