Reading 1: “Attractive Things Work Better” by Don Norman
I really liked Norman’s idea that attractive things don’t just look good—they actually change how we feel and behave. Before reading this, I used to think usability was all that mattered, but now I see how a beautiful design can make me more patient and forgiving. For example, there’s an app on my phone with a super sleek interface. Even when it glitches, I’m willing to give it another chance because it looks so appealing. On the other hand, if an app looks outdated or dull, I find myself deleting it right away. It’s fascinating how aesthetics can create a kind of emotional “cushion” that keeps us calm and curious, which then helps us solve problems more easily.
Reading 2: Margaret Hamilton and the Apollo 11 Mission
Margaret Hamilton’s story reminded me that critical work often happens behind the scenes and doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. Her software literally helped save the Apollo 11 mission by planning for things that might go wrong—something no one else seemed to think about at the time. I love how she pushed for software to be taken seriously as an engineering field. Back then, many people saw coding as less important than other parts of spaceflight, but her hard work proved otherwise. It’s really inspiring to see how her ability to anticipate mistakes changed everything for the mission. I think we can all learn from that: even if other people don’t immediately see the value in what we do, persistence and foresight can make a huge impact—sometimes, it can even save the day.
The idea is straightforward: use the AirPods case itself as a physical mechanism to connect or disconnect two wires.
When the AirPods are open: The two green wires make contact. This allows current to flow in such a way that the LED turns on.
When the AirPods are closed: The two green wires are pushed apart (or pulled apart), so the circuit is broken, and the LED turns off.
Of course, your exact implementation may depend on how you place the wires on the AirPods case—some people prefer taping them near the hinge or using a small piece of foam to press them apart. But the principle remains the same: open case = wires connected, closed case = wires disconnected (or vice versa).
What You’ll Need
Arduino Uno
Red wire (5V supply)
Black wire (GND)
Blue LED
330 Ω resistor
Two green wires (these become the AirPods “switch” leads)
The NYU library at peak hours , especially during the midterm week, turns into a Sunday bazaar with students pulling all nighters and some attending just for the vibes. It has been the case, that the number of students wanting to study always exceeds the number of study desks available. To address this, the library administration devised a policy – 25 minutes of unattended desk would result in transfer of that study place to another student. Many students toss in there belongings and go away. While the desk is not being used, it ends up not being utilized for studying. This way of booking and occupying places, is not only selfish but unethical. To address this issue, I wanted to resort to ‘out of the box thinking’. This is where I found a switch mechanism, apparently an usual one more befitting!
Working:
In order to be the switch to be unusual, it cannot be operated by hand. One of the indicators could have been the desk, but then I realized, that the chairs can be even more useful in the sense that it is definite that you have to sit down to work, compared to putting pressure over the desk with your items. Hence, as shown in the sketch, I utilized the pressure sensor, which has inverse relationship between its resistance and pressure applied onto its plate. Pressure decrease increases resistance. I added two leds, with one connected to pin-8 being red – indicating that the seat is occupied, and the other one connected to pin-12 indicating that the seat/workplace is free. The 10k resistors help prevent LEDs from burning and third resistor is connected to the pressure plate, to ground unnecessary voltage flux by the plate to 0V. This prevents anomaly and stops any non-necessary trigger sent over to A0 input. Since digitalRead had to be used, the simple ON or OFF state from the sensor was extracted and the state was sent over to the input ‘A0’. This input measures for 0s and 1s. When 1 detected, it triggers the logic inside the code.
Here is the schematic for the circuit:
Demo:
Code:
//alinoor
// declare variables
int sensorpin = A0; // sensor pin
int sensor;
// sensor readings
// LED pins
int led1 = 8;
int led2 = 12;
bool person_was_sitting; // to check if it is still in use while person away
void setup() {
// set LED pins as outputs
pinMode(led1,OUTPUT);
pinMode(led2,OUTPUT);
// initialize serial communication
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
// read sensor value
sensor = digitalRead(sensorpin);
// print sensor value
Serial.println(sensor);
// turn on the red led and keep it on until the person is pressing against it
// against it or its been 25 minutes since the last press.
if(sensor>0){
digitalWrite(led2,LOW); //green led turns off
digitalWrite(led1,HIGH); //red led turns on
person_was_sitting = true;
}
else if(sensor < 1 && person_was_sitting == true){ //checks out only if now seat is idle and person is away for less than 25 min
digitalWrite(led1,HIGH);
delay (1500000); // delay for 25 minutes
digitalWrite(led1,LOW); // red led turns off
digitalWrite(led2,HIGH); //green LED turns on
person_was_sitting = false;
}
}
The code is pretty much self-explanatory with the aid of the comments. To further explain the logic, the two LEDs are connected to pin 8 and 12. The sensor value store the digitalRead value measured for input to A0 pin. That value, either 0 or 1 (printed inside serial monitor as well for debugging), is used in if-else condition to perform certain task. The delay in else is in milliseconds equivalent of 25 minutes. For debugging 5000 millisecond was used which is equivalent to 5 seconds. If the sensor returns 1, bright red LED lights up to show ‘occupied’. It also sets the state of ‘person_was_sitting’ to true. When person no longer sitting, then else-if triggers and checks for both conditions. In the case that its been more than 25 minutes, and there hasn’t been any one sitting on the chair, then else-if isn’t checked for, and it continues to power the green LED. However, if a person just left, then a delay of 25 minutes is set in place, after which red light is turned off and the green one is toggled.
Future Improvements:
Potentially a brighter LED coupled with weight sensor to make it fool-proof. Students can swap chairs to prolong booking, which in my opinion would self-contradict their on idea of staying away from desk as they will have to comeback to swap again, but even then, adding in weight sensor can help monitor and record for previous weight. If someone else sits to prolong or to takeover someones space, an added buzzer can beep and notify the librarian of such act.
Her Code Got Humans On The Moon – And Invented Software Itself:
The story of Margaret Hamilton not only serves as great source of inspiration for woman in tech. but also to those who tend to walk a different path than the others. What was considered minute, soon ended up becoming center of attention as software oriented approach after the apparent success of Apollo launch, was placed emphasize on, and towards the implementation of software centric system. A mother whose intention was to serve her family first, and make a difference is commendable; however in addition to the heart touching story, what caught my attention was the stubbornness. Sometimes its ok to believe in yourself and be stubborn. Had it not been for her toying around and discovering the potential problem with the simulator regarding the P01 switch control, maybe they wouldn’t have been able to find a fix within 9-hours. This taught me the importance of putting things to the test, and always opting for a back-up, rather than putting things to luck. A good system always has back-up incase of failure. In general, I found a confidence booster through this story of hers, and made me realize missed venues where I could have had been a trend setter instead of being a follower. This class allows me to build by will, and it is what I want to utilize to break and make just like Margaret!
Attractive things Work Better:
The reading discusses the universal cognitive bias where attractive items are interpreted as easy to use. Intelligently designed products allow producers to veil the flaws behind the curtain of attractiveness that products imposes onto its operators. In addition, that veil not only covers over the flaws, but also does the same to hide stressful, bottle-neck, and irritating situations as per what was described in the reading. As mentioned in the reading, ”pleasurable aspects of the design will make them more tolerant of difficulties and problems in the interface”. Come to think of it, I completely agree with this. Computers, despite complex algorithmic runtimes and clock-timings coupled with rising edges to get the minimal task carried out to a human mind may seem stressful. For those who develop, not so much so, but even then to process everything in our short term memory, can overwhelm any of the mind on the planet earth. Even its creator’s. Therefore we interact with what’s on the front-end. Even then, the interface differs. This is where I noticed contrast between iOS and Android operating systems. Both are very well capable, however, the minimalistic flat icon layout of iOS seems so clean and smooth, that we end up blaming android as a flawed system, even though both considerably have their own downsides. Moving away from non-tangible to tangible, the minimalistic aluminum body of Apple’s products make them pleasing to eyes and touch, despite the heaps missing array of sensors and functionalities that you can find on a 200$ android phone. To make my point clear, there is preference for both products, but Apple manages to hide its downsides with better design philosophy. The reading does argue ‘Beyond Beauty’, and to that I think ‘reliability’ is the word I would reply back with. Not just the functionality, but a reliable functionality is also a core component, without which the age of product would short live, and its beauty would lead it to be decorated on a shelf. Personally relating to it, my Parker ballpoint, after running out of ink, became of no such use. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the reading and believe, something reliable, functional, and soothing for the eye makes for a good product.
I loved the article as it speaks on something very relatable and significant in the Design world and that is the intersection of design and beauty. I never really gave it much thought but after reading the article I now see this evident in my life too and that of friends around me. I appreciate how Norman categorised how affect impacts design and behaviour. In terms of behaviour, he explains how affect regulates how well we can solve problems and perform tasks. For instance, I find myself more motivated to handwrite when I have an aesthetically pleasing pen or pencil and the opposite is also true. In terms of design, affect impacts how easy it is to learn how to use an item. My takeaway from the reading is that designers should strive to strike a balance between optimum usability and also the appealing nature of their designs.
Her code got humans on the moon
Such an amazing piece of writing highlighting the outstanding contribution of Margaret Hamilton in the development of software Engineering. There are so many lessons to learn from this writing but what stood out to me is the passion and sheer determination of Hamilton to push beyond the ordinary and uncover the complex technological milestones with so many odds stacked against her. I found it inspiring how she paid keen attention to the possible crash of code and was ready to solve it despite the skepticism she received from NASA. Had she not been that assertive, who knows what would have happened to the space explorers. On a broader scale I appreciate how the Apollo space program revolutionized both computing history and space exploration.So many insights to take on in life from the reading —encouraging me to push boundaries, embrace innovation, and persevere through challenges in any field.
I found the example of the three teapots particularly interesting because it shows how different designs serve different purposes. The author describes one of the teapots as being deliberately unusable, the other more aesthetically pleasing, and the last one being practical and well thought out. Yet, he uses all of them at different times, proving that design is situational. This made me reflect on my own experiences, there are times when I am most liekly to prioritize efficiency, but other times I would like to appreciate beauty or novelty in design. Essentially, it’s not about a single “best” design but rather the right design for the right moment.
Her Code Got Humans on the Moon
Reading about Margaret Hamilton’s contributions really gave me a new perspective on software design and reliability. I had never thought about how early software engineering had to account for human error in such high-stakes environments. This made me think about how much of today’s UI/UX design is centered around the same kind of principles and ideas Hamilton had. In interactive systems, we rely on clear, intuitive design to prevent mistakes, just like the Apollo software had to ensure astronauts couldn’t accidentally erase critical data. Her work really highlighted the idea that good software isn’t just about writing code but also about anticipating how users will interact with it and designing systems that are both strong and intuitive to use.
Norman, “Emotion & Design: Attractive things work better”
In this reading, Norman’s idea of “attractive things work better” really struck me because I didn’t realize how forgiving I was of things that were more aesthetically pleasing. This plays a huge role when it comes to marketing because brands that are marketed as much more luxury and aesthetic have a positive affect on people compared to cheaper, less aesthetic brands. This made me reflect on my own experiences, like how I’m more patient with my prettier jewelry pieces even if the clasp is annoying, whereas I quickly become irritated with an cheaper and less aesthetic jewelry, even if it technically functions well. Norman also discusses how anxiety can interfere with usability by causing stress, which narrows a person’s ability to think flexibly and adapt. I found it fascinating that aesthetics can influence not just perception but also actual performance, as users who feel calm and engaged are much better equipped to navigate challenges that come with items.
Her Code Got Humans on the Moon:
I found the dedication that Margaret Hamilton had to her work incredible. As a working mother during a time when women would often stay at home, finding time to balance work and home is truly applause worthy and showcases her dedication and passion for her work. Her meticulous approach to programming, combined with her insistence on rigorous testing and error prevention, was absolutely crucial in ensuring the success of the moon landing. I was particularly struck by her emphasis on anticipating potential errors, a mindset that transformed how mission-critical software was developed which is something we could use in our coding as well. Her work demonstrates how careful planning and foresight can mitigate human errors, which, in high-stakes environments like space travel, could really mean the difference between life and death.
For this week’s assignment, I wanted to create something that utilized my handy octo-buddy, especially when it came to detecting its emotions. I decided to use two lights: one red and one green. When the octopus was flipped to happy and placed on the sensor, the green light would light up. When it was angry, the red light would light up. To do this, I utilized copper tape and aluminum foil, flattened into a coin like shape. I took the copper tape and attached the wires for the switches in the tape that I then attached to the legs of the octopus – one on each side for each emotion. I also inserted a wire in the aluminum foil.
All in all, it was a bit hard to get the octopus’ legs to align with the sensor when filming the video, but in the end, it wasn’t too hard of an assignment to complete. I do wish we had more discreet and longer wires, so the octopus didn’t have to be so close to the Arduino board.
Norman’s idea that “attractive things work better” really resonated with me, especially as someone who loves design. I’ve always felt drawn to beautifully designed objects, but I hadn’t fully realized how much their aesthetics affect the way I use them. Norman’s explanation made me reflect on how, when something looks good, I’m more patient with it, more curious, and even more forgiving when it doesn’t work perfectly. It’s like beauty creates a kind of emotional buffer that makes me feel more connected to the object. That connection isn’t just superficial—it actually helps me think more clearly and solve problems better, just like he describes. It reminded me why I care so much about thoughtful design: it’s not just about how something looks, but how it makes people feel, and ultimately, how well it works because of that feeling.
Reading 2
Reading Margaret Hamilton’s story made me reflect on how often history overlooks the people who work behind the scenes, especially women. Hamilton’s brilliance lay not just in her technical knowledge but in the way she foresaw failures and built resilience into the software itself. It is amazing to think that her code saved the Apollo 11 mission at a time of crisis, yet for a long time, she was not a household name. What impressed me most was how she fought to get software recognized as real engineering: it reminded me of how many fields that we now take seriously had to be legitimized by people who were initially dismissed. I find her story inspiring because it combines human intuition, systems thinking, and a deep belief in the importance of “invisible” work. It makes me think of how many other anonymous innovators shaped the world we live in today.
This reading made me think about how emotions affect how we interact with objects. Norman explains that people don’t just want things to work, they want them to look and feel good too. I never realized how much my own emotions influence my experience with products. Even if something is not perfectly functional, I might still like it because it looks nice or makes me feel good. It shows that good design is about balance, not just usability but also beauty.
Her Code Got Humans on the Moon, by Robert McMillan:
Her story is inspiring because it highlights how crucial software is, even in something as big as landing on the moon. It’s interesting to see how her careful programming helped avoid disaster during Apollo 11. What stood out to me most was how she had to prove herself in a male-dominated field, yet her work shaped modern software engineering. It made me appreciate how much behind-the-scenes effort goes into technological breakthroughs
