“Design matters, but which design is preferable depends upon the occasion, the context, and above all, upon my mood” (page 2). We can see that Norman starts off by giving us a warning that design is subjective especially when relying on mood. With that, I believe that mood is such an important component in design…is it designed for an emergency situation where everyone is panicking (push/pull door example) or is designed to impress your guests in a calm environment (teapot example)? Designers must consider such aspects when considering usability because “the principles of good human-centered design are especially important in stressful situations” (page 6). The author further discusses color and how color was fulfilling some need, but one we could not measure…he further adds, “Although my reasoning told me that color was unimportant, my emotional reaction told me otherwise” (page 3). This proves that when it comes to design, there shouldn’t be solid reasoning like you would see in Mathematics or the Sciences. The essence of design is intuition, emotions, and ultimately pleasure in completing tasks or perhaps user-feedback.
At some point during the reading, I believed that attractive things don’t work better; I disagreed with the author if attractive meant minimal, an example would be the Tesla vehicles. When Tesla made their cars too simple (almost no user feedback), it caused confusion & accidents, which shows how minimalism can sometimes make things chaotic. That’s what I initially believed, but upon page 7, I came to terms with the author where he says “to be truly beautiful, wondrous, and pleasurable, the product has to fulfill a useful function, work well, and be usable and understandable.” The author follows and says that good design means that beauty and usability are in balance. That’s where I came to agreement that attractive things work better if and only if beauty does not surpass usability. Unfortunately, not every designer believes that, such that they minimize too much in attempts to make things more modern/appealing, but doing this can make the things harder to use (usability) and understand (intuitive design).
Finally, this brings me to Margaret Hamilton. While reading about her experiences, I couldn’t help but draw parallels to modern design practices and the ongoing designs inspired by minimalism. Hamilton’s role in developing the Apollo computer system proves the importance of prioritizing functionality & reliability over aesthetics, especially in high-stakes environments. In this case, I might agree that beauty and usability mustn’t always be in balance; sometimes, usability can surpass beauty for the sake of safety. In today’s world, minimalist designs often dominate, and Hamilton’s story reminded me of the potential consequences of overlooking usability and prioritizing “the balance” as Norman defined it. With that, I wonder, would Norman still believe that we must balance beauty and usability, or would he make an exception, considering high-stakes environments like the Apollo program?