After reading the first chapter of Don Norman’s The Design of Everyday Things, I have come to realize that our thoughts on design align with one another. Throughout the chapter, Norman emphasizes the importance of understanding human behavior and psychology in order to create designs and even experiences that work successfully with one another. This is basically the backbone of my thinking process when creating or designing anything. Without proper thought being put into how users might think when it comes to using different prototypes or designs, then there is, in my opinion, no point in creating in the first place. Although this might seem extreme, my thinking process’ main idea is that we create things for users in order for them to use it. Thus, to be able to do so, we need to put ourselves in the position of the users. This, however, must be done without putting any expectations on the users’ behavior. Doing so will create unreasonable and unrealistic designs for humans to use. This will allow us to create and cater to the average user, ensuring that interactions between users, systems, and designers flow successfully.
That being said, this reading raises the question of the importance of empathy in designing and creating. How important is it to consider others’ feelings, thoughts, and even past experiences when creating or designing anything? How can we empathize with others to successfully cater to their needs? These questions, I believe, help us navigate the complexities of human psychology, emotion, and interaction in relation to designing. I would go as far as to say that without considering one or the other, any effort for designing, especially one centered around human interactions, will not be able to go as smoothly. We saw it with the example Norman gave with the nuclear power plant, not designing for human behavior and psychology in mind can have adverse consequences. Thus, it is only by considering these things will, as I mentioned previously, allow us to create better designs that are sustainable for humanity, ensuring that these designs are safe and reliable for human use.