Reference
The Design of Everyday Things
- Donald A. Norman
The Design of Everyday Things
- Donald A. Norman
Summary
The title essentially explains what this book is about. Norman starts by explaining how involved and connected device design is with the human mind. There are many details that go into design that most people don’t talk about, and these are the most elegant and useful parts of the design. Any device that a person just naturally knows how to use by looking at it is a masterful design implementation. If the user can start using and figure out a device without a manual and on its design alone, this is a truly successful design.
The title essentially explains what this book is about. Norman starts by explaining how involved and connected device design is with the human mind. There are many details that go into design that most people don’t talk about, and these are the most elegant and useful parts of the design. Any device that a person just naturally knows how to use by looking at it is a masterful design implementation. If the user can start using and figure out a device without a manual and on its design alone, this is a truly successful design.
Another major point was including human error into the equation. And not only being aware of it, but knowing that errors by the user will definitely happen. The design, if possible, should have countermeasures to human error, or at least be ready to handle them. Having a self-destruct button right next to another frequently used one would be a terrible idea. However, if a clear cover were placed and secured over the self-destruct button, this would at least be aware of the potential error and place some restriction in the design to hinder it.
Choosing aesthetics over practicality is a major and common design flaw. Norman uses the explanation of an award-winning design that no one can use. This greatly ties in with the main point of his book, which is to employ user-centered design. It is perfectly alright to design something pleasing to the eye and with new features people might not have seen before if the design is still manageable to the people who will be using it. A good system he pointed out was his POET system involving 7 main points: use both knowledge in the world and knowledge in the head, simplify the structure of tasks, make things visible, get the mappings right, exploit the power of constraints, design for error, and when all else fails, standardize. Everyday things should be easy to use and practical. By keeping his POET system in mind as well as designing with the user in mind, Norman believes annoying everyday things can be a thing of the past.
Discussion
Norman’s book was certainly an interesting take on devices many of us interact with on a daily basis. Before reading this, I never thought too much about annoying devices. I simply put up with them and took the time to learn their seemingly illogical designs. But what I didn’t realize is that there was a good explanation to the reasoning behind why these designs are annoying and difficult to use. On the bright side, this makes it much easier to find and gravitate towards the much better designed products. I don’t really have much more else to say about his book. All I can hope is that I can implement his advice into anything I design, and be able to detect poor designs and advise people against using them. This was a useful book, and it certainly ties in nicely to his other book we’re reading, Emotional Design.
Norman’s book was certainly an interesting take on devices many of us interact with on a daily basis. Before reading this, I never thought too much about annoying devices. I simply put up with them and took the time to learn their seemingly illogical designs. But what I didn’t realize is that there was a good explanation to the reasoning behind why these designs are annoying and difficult to use. On the bright side, this makes it much easier to find and gravitate towards the much better designed products. I don’t really have much more else to say about his book. All I can hope is that I can implement his advice into anything I design, and be able to detect poor designs and advise people against using them. This was a useful book, and it certainly ties in nicely to his other book we’re reading, Emotional Design.
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