Redefinition of Benefits of Inconvenience

摘要

A new design methodology for a human-machine system, which is called Benefits of Inconvenience (BI), has attracted lots of attention, especially from the people who worry about the harmful effects of too convenient products and systems. Nevertheless, the definitions of "inconvenience" and "benefits" of inconvenience differ not only among the researchers and the general public but also among the researchers. Therefore, the present manuscript clarifies the reasons why the misunderstandings of the above-mentioned definitions occur, and it redefines the BI by separation of effort and benefits into two types; objective ones and subjective ones. Moreover, the present manuscript analyzes some BI examples from the viewpoint of the new BI definition.