Emotion and Design: Attractive Things Work Better
Don Norman’s essay, Attractive Things Work Better, focuses on clarifying and further elaborating on some ideas that came into conversation from his piece, The Design of Everyday Things. He works to identify a common ground between beauty and commenting on the importance of both of them. In Everyday Things he focuses on how designer should prioritize usability, which gave users the impression that it should be prioritized at the sacrifice of aesthetics. However, in this piece Norman explores how the aesthetics of a design can also dictate it’s usability for an individual.
For example, he proposes the idea of walking across a 1 meter wide plank at different height intervals. As the plank gets higher and higher off the ground, the likelihood that an individual would be willing to cross it decreases each time, indicating how the external factors, or appearance, can play a part in whether or not an object is usable. This is important because it further instills how the design process has to be user oriented. Not only does the design of an object itself play a role, but the user’s emotions and the greater context of how an object will be used are extremely relevant. Although finding a happy medium between the two (like discussed in the 3 teapots) is far from easy, it also creates a space for unique design as different creations can adapt to the needs of different people.
Her Code Got Humans on the Moon—And Invented
Software Itself
Robert McMillan’s article, Her Code Got Humans on the Moon, discusses Margaret Hamilton’s career while programming the code that would be used to launch the Apollo. It started out as a discussion of her career progression how she got into this field, and then focuses on her pivotal role as an engineer working on the Apollo project. Hamilton’s story is particularly interesting not only because she was a woman working in tech in the 60s, but also because the work she developed has become part of the foundation for developing software today.
As a mother, she faced lots of doubt and criticism from people who did not understand the important work she was doing. However, in her field, she was respected and welcomed for her contributions to the project. Not only did she defy the societal expectations placed on her, but she excelled in every way. Scientists such as Hamilton are strong examples of how people can go against the odds and make great strides in their field.