DecodingsWhat Computers Have Taught Me About Being Human

What is the bridge between the machine world and the human one?

We encounter this question daily as we navigate our digital gadgets or even simply try to get a candy bar out of a vending machine.

Usability engineering has usually been the practice of trying to get machines to meet us humans on our terms. But it turns out that this is only part of the story. The rest – powerful, surprising and rarely explored – is the subject of the forthcoming book, Decodings.

Having spent a career mediating between these two worlds, Sasha Akhavi looks first at how fundamental the division between them is to the way we view the world. Then he questions whether that division exists.

From there the book turns to what can be learned about our own species and the way we work when we consider the perspective of the mechanical. The journey is informative, funny and thought-provoking – and the destination is extraordinary.

Sasha Akhavi is actively seeking publication for Decodings. To be notified when it is available, and of other relevant posts by Sasha, sign up for the mailing list or follow on Facebook or Twitter.

About Sasha Akhavi

Photo of Sasha Akhavi

For 20 years, starting with the first baby steps of the World Wide Web, Sasha Akhavi has been engaged in making the Internet, and the applications that run on it, a hospitable place for human beings.

As a UX engineer, Akhavi has put hundreds of interfaces through the ultimate test: exposure to a naïve human user. As a UI developer, he works under the hood, traversing the software data path from the high level to the low and back again. And as Scrum Master, he guides a community of human beings through their own algorithmic development process.

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As a welcome gift, you'll receive guided access to the interactive digital art piece Decodings (2014), which preceded the book.

DECODINGS 2014 Guide e-Book

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Last Edited on 2015-12-22
Original work Copyright © Shahpour Akhavi | Privacy policy
Photo edits derived from Danielle Copyright ©2013 Anthony Cerniello
Copyright © Shahpour Akhavi | Privacy policy