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Benevolent deception: "The placebo button effect" » English to Swahili » Entry by Fredrick Otiato


Source text in English

Translation by Fredrick Otiato (#24874) — Winner

Over the course of many years, without making any great fuss about it, the authorities in New York disabled most of the control buttons that once operated pedestrian-crossing lights in the city. Computerised timers, they had decided, almost always worked better. By 2004, fewer than 750 of 3,250 such buttons remained functional. The city government did not, however, take the disabled buttons away—beckoning countless fingers to futile pressing.

Initially, the buttons survived because of the cost of removing them. But it turned out that even inoperative buttons serve a purpose. Pedestrians who press a button are less likely to cross before the green man appears, says Tal Oron-Gilad of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Israel. Having studied behaviour at crossings, she notes that people more readily obey a system which purports to heed their input.

Inoperative buttons produce placebo effects of this sort because people like an impression of control over systems they are using, says Eytan Adar, an expert on human-computer interaction at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dr Adar notes that his students commonly design software with a clickable “save” button that has no role other than to reassure those users who are unaware that their keystrokes are saved automatically anyway. Think of it, he says, as a touch of benevolent deception to counter the inherent coldness of the machine world.

That is one view. But, at road crossings at least, placebo buttons may also have a darker side. Ralf Risser, head of FACTUM, a Viennese institute that studies psychological factors in traffic systems, reckons that pedestrians’ awareness of their existence, and consequent resentment at the deception, now outweighs the benefits.
Kwa kipindi cha miaka mingi, bila kupiga chuku kuhusu jambo hili, mamlaka jijini New York ililemaza vitufe vya udhibiti ambavyo wakati fulani viliendesha taratibu za taa za kusaidia watu wanaotembea kwa miguu kuvuka barabara jijini. Walikuwa wameamua kwamba saa zinazotumia kompyuta karibu zilifanya kazi vyema zaidi. Kufikia mwaka wa 2004, chini ya vitufe 750 kati ya 3,250 ndivyo vilisalia vikifanya kazi. Hata hivyo, serikali ya jiji haikuondoa vitufe vilivyolemazwa—wakitaja kubonyeza mara nyingi hadi kubonyeza bila mafinikio.

Mwanzoni, vitufe hivi vilisalia kwa sababu ya gharama ya kuviondoa. Lakini ilitokea kwamba hata vitufe visivyofanya kazi vilitekeleza lengo fulani. Watu wanaotembea kwa miguu wanaobonyeza kitufe huenda wasivuke barabara kabla ya kibonzo cha kijani kutokea, anavyodai Tal Oron-Gilad kutoka Chuo kikuu cha Negev, nchini Israeli. Ambaye amesomea tabia za watu wakati wa kuvuka barabara, anashikilia kwamba watu hutii zaidi mifumo ambayo inajifanya kuzingatia mchango wao.

Vitufe visivyofanya kazi vinaleta athari ya kupumbaza ya namna hii kwa sababu watu wanapenda kuhisi kuwa na udhibiti wa mifumo wanayotumia, anavyodai Eytan Adar ambaye ni mtaalamu wa mwingiliano baina ya binadamu na kompyuta katika Chuo kikuu cha Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dr. Adar anasema kwamba wanafunzi wake husanifu programu zilizo na kitufe cha "hifadhi" ambacho hakina kazi nyingine kando na kuwahakikishia watumiaji ambao hawajui kwamba mibofyo yao huhifadhiwa kiotomatiki. Anasema, lifikirie kama mguso wa kupumbaza ili kukabiliana na hali ya ulimwengu tulivu wa mashine inayotufanyia kila kitu.

Huo ni mtazamo mmoja. Lakini, angalau katika uvukaji wa barabara, vitufe pumbaza vinaweza pia kuwa na changamoto. Ralf Risser, mkuu wa kitengo cha FACTUM, taasisi ya Kiviena ambayo inatafanya utafiti wa masuala ya kisaikolojia katika mifumo ya trafiki, anakubali kwamba watu wanaotembea kwa miguu wanapotambua kuwepo kwa vitufe pumbaza na kusababisha wao kuchukia hali yao ya udanganyifu, sasa hali hii inazidi manufaa ya vitufe vivyo.


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