The Design of a Human Memory Prosthesis

Memory is the forgotten problem of office systems research. We believe that a new class of applications, which we call ‘memory prostheses’, are needed when memory problems arise. We expect these systems to provide help with a range of everyday memory problems, including: finding files, papers and notes (in whatever medium they are expressed), recalling names of people and places, procedures and lists, remembering to perform tasks. A memory prosthesis will be sensitive to its environment and able to record data automatically about its user's activities. These data can later be retrieved to help users remember things they have forgotten, especially things they did not know they would need to remember. This sensitivity to the environment will also enable the memory prosthesis to issue context-sensitive reminders of things that the user intended to do. In this paper we present guidelines for the design of memory prostheses, drawing on studies that have been carried out on the psychological basis of memory problems in the workplace and on technological possibilities for dealing with these problems. These guidelines define this new class of application, provide the basis for our continuing work in support of the problems of everyday office life and offer a new challenge for computer systems research.