Her Code Got Humans on the Moon
When people bring the Apollo project, my mind always goes to Margaret Hamilton because she does not get enough credit for the work she contributed to the success of the mission. As the work of women in male-dominate fields has been systematically forgotten in history, I feel her efforts towards the development of software engineering at NASA has gone unnoticed. Knowing that she had to balance childcare while pursuing her goals (and under considerable amount of pressure), Hamilton’s story is incredibly inspiring to me because it shows that woman have the capabilities to achieve the same academic rigorous fields as men and not limited to housekeeping task.
There’s also the famous photo of Hamiliton next to the code she wrote by hand for the project that makes me realize how far technology has advance within the past decade. Just in the past 60 years, computation has reverted from manually hand punched cards and written embedded design to a completely digitalized software system. As such, for me, the complexity of physical design and software applications has influenced my curiosity to understand how computerI architectural design effects digital computation. Knowing someone like me has been able to understand and develop software before it was mainstream has helped me continue to pursue my goals when times get difficult.
Norman,“Emotion & Design: Attractive things work better”
Norman’s writing talks about the aesthetic which a product embodies affects the way the user perceive it usability and effectiveness. Depending on the circumstances, the product may be more useful, while some not as much. With the three tea pots example, I agree with the theme and that people purchase certain items because of the way it may look and how’d present to other guests or fit in into the task at hand. If the circumstances call for quick/ stress solution, the usability of the product will weigh more than the design. Similarly, if a person has time to appreciate the process, then its design can be extended and shaped uniquely.
I feel all humans have a bias towards what design choice brings them joy, and so in feeling good about the product, the process of using that product would be more enjoyable and any cons are overshadowed by the joy. Whereas, if one is frustrated and disappointed with the product, it sets the expectation that the product would not work as well and one may not put as much effort to finding a solution. I think an interesting point Norman brings up is colored computer screens because if people didn’t like the colored screens modern computers would have remained black and white. Since our eyes perceive color in our everyday lives, it is unsettling to have a black and white scree. As such, I feel our experiences through our senses and experiences define the expectations we lay on the tools we use.