Don Norman’s “Three Teapots” piece really got me thinking about how design isn’t just about pure functionality. The part that stuck out to me was when he talked about his three very different teapots – the bizarrely unusable Carelman one, the plain but practical Nanna pot, and the cleverly designed Ronnefeldt tilting teapot. Despite their varying levels of usability, Norman admits to using all three regularly depending on his mood and the situation.
This challenges the idea that good design has to be 100% focused on usability above all else. Norman makes the point that aesthetics, emotion, and personal preferences also play a huge role in how we perceive and enjoy designed objects. His teapot collection shows that design excellence isn’t a one-size-fits-all thing – it’s about striking the right balance between functionality, beauty, and generating an emotional connection for the user.
I totally relate to this from my own experiences with products and objects. There have been times when something was highly usable but felt soulless and uninspiring. On the flip side, I’ve been drawn to gorgeous pieces of design that maybe weren’t the most practical but just made me feel good owning and using them. Norman reminds us that great design caters to our practical needs as humans, but also our emotional and aesthetic desires.
His points about how emotions influence our thinking and decision-making were also fascinating. The idea that positive emotions can boost our creativity and tolerance for small design flaws, while negative emotions can make us laser-focused but closed-off, is pretty mind-blowing. It makes me think designers need to consider the emotional resonance of their work, not just tick boxes for usability.
Overall, “Three Teapots” challenges the usability-over-everything mentality in a really insightful way. It argues that design should harmonize utility, beauty, and generate an emotional response in users based on their subjective needs and experiences.