Below is a video from a talk given by Princeton Ph.D. in architecture candidate, Molly Wright Steenson. Ms. Steenson’s talk presents a very interesting retrospective of cybernetic theory, tracing the role of boredom in systems. Of particular interest, is the suggestion that creating highly intuitive systems should not be the ultimate goal of systems designers. Though intuitive considerations certainly improve general usability of a system, if relied on solely, highly intuitive systems can result in users taking passive roles within the system, ultimately leading to boredom. Steenson suggests that with the use of (2nd order) cybernetics, these moments of boredom can be used as opportunities for the system to provoke and challenge the user in order to explore new directions and experience unexpected results. The incorporation of system feedback as a mode of user stimulation is a dimension of usability that is largely ignored by most system designers, and with good reason. The pilot of a passenger airliner is certainly not looking to be unexpectedly challenged by the auto-pilot system on the aircraft he or she is flying

Many, if not most of the technological systems we use and in which we participate, are created specifically to perform boring, highly regulated, and mundane tasks. But there are exceptions, especially in contexts where we are completely ambivalent to the system around us. Cedric Price’s Generator , a proposed building composed of a series of 150 12′ x 12′ cubes, movable by a crane operator, is one such example. Price’s Generator was characterized by an ever-changing program, defined by the behaviors of users of the space and feedback collected by sensors within the space. Through this ongoing conversation between system and participants, a building, typically solid and unchangeable, is transformed into a highly dynamic system. Boredom presents itself a leverage point within the system.