The article discusses the concept of latent failures, which are design defects or choices that lie dormant within a system but have the potential to cause major issues down the line. This is in contrast to active failures, which are the immediate errors or behaviors that directly lead to a failure.
The author introduces the Swiss Cheese Model, which illustrates how multiple layers of a system (management decisions, design, user behavior, etc.) can act as barriers to prevent failures. However, when all these layers are penetrated, a system failure can occur.
The article then explores the "resident pathogen" metaphor, which suggests that the more design defects (or "pathogens") present in a system, the more likely a failure will occur, especially when the system is operating outside of its normal design parameters.
The author discusses several poor remedies for addressing latent failures, such as user training and adding more safeguards, which can actually worsen the problem by increasing system complexity. Instead, the article proposes more effective solutions, including:
The article concludes by emphasizing the growing importance of addressing latent failures as technology becomes more complex and opaque, and calls for designers to work cross-functionally to mitigate these risks.
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by Michael Pare... at uxdesign.cc 07-10-2024
https://uxdesign.cc/bad-design-is-like-a-virus-design-defects-and-latent-failures-1e0ab4be7e52Deeper Inquiries