Week 4 – The Design of Everyday Things, The Psychopathology of Everyday Things
In Chapter 1, Don Norman introduces the idea of human-centered design (HCD) and claims that a well-designed object should be intuitive and easy to use. He emphasizes how poor design may lead to confusion and frustration, which highlights that when people are struggling to use a product, it’s often the fault of the designer, not the user. Additionally, there are a few key principles that were introduced including affordances, signifiers, feedback, and conceptual models. Affordances refer to the properties of an object that indicate how it should be used (a handle affords pulling). Signifiers give clues about how an object functions, such as labels or icons. Feedback ensures that users receive a response when they interact with a design (a light turning on when a button is pressed). Lastly, conceptual models help users predict how an object will behave based on previous experiences. Norman critiques some common usability failures, such as confusing doors (push vs. pull) and complicated appliances. He believes that a well-thought-out design prioritizes clarity, simplicity, and usability rather than just aesthetics.
His valuable insights point out how much bad design impacts daily life. Usually, people will blame themselves for struggling with an object when, in reality, the issue lies in poor design choices. This made me think about how many times I’ve encountered objects that don’t work the way I expect them to, especially digitally where buttons are unresponsive. The chapter reinforces the idea that usability should always come before aesthetics in design. One thing that I find annoying is some modern car systems. Many car manufacturers have replaced physical buttons with touchscreen controls for functions like climate control. The reason that this is frustrating is that they often have poor menu structures, which require you to open multiple tabs for simple tasks like changing the AC temperature. There are various ways to improve this with one being to simply bring back physical buttons for frequently used functions like temperature, volume, and hazard lights. Another thing that could be done is the use of haptic feedback on touchscreens so users can feel when they’ve selected something. Applying Norman’s principles to interactive media can significantly improve usability and user experience. For example, buttons should look clickable, and the links should be distinguishable. Loading animations, confirmation messages, or vibrations on a touchscreen can signal that an action has been completed. Similarly, error messages should be clear and instructive and tell users what went wrong and how to fix it. By prioritising usability over aesthetics, designers are able to create interactive media that feels intuitive rather than frustrating.