Don Norman — “Emotion & Design: Attractive Things Work Better”
Don Norman argues that it’s important to design things to be visually pleasing and attractive because it makes us happier and improves how people use them. I agree with him because there were countless times when my mood or motivation dropped just because the things around me looked unattractive. A prime example for me is the room I work in, I probably wouldn’t be able to finish, let alone even start doing my work if I were in a gloomy room with barely any colors, or furniture that doesn’t complement each other. Overall, I find that I’m in a much more positive state of mind when I’m surrounded by things with an appealing design.
Robert McMillan — “Her Code Got Humans on the Moon”
The article about Margaret Hamilton really made me think about just how important not only the mission is, but the people who helped make it happen. Hamilton was a computer scientist in the 1960s who worked in MIT, where she led the development of the onboard flight software for the Apollo missions. I found it very impressive how she managed to succeed in a male-dominated field while also juggling her personal life, such as caring for her daughter, all while doing groundbreaking technical work at such a young age.
Thanks to Hamilton’s experience and clever approach to handling errors or casualties, she was able to save the astronauts on the Apollo 8 flight and bring them back home. I find it truly inspiring that even before they launched the mission, Hamilton wanted to add error-detection code “just in case.” Even when her higher-ups thought it was unnecessary, she didn’t give up and made sure the system could handle unexpected problems, and her preparation paid off in the end.