Emotion & Design: Attractive things work better
This was definitely an interesting reading, which, in summary, discussed the positive relationship between aesthetics and usability. Norman makes the point that although aesthetics do not play a role in the function of a certain design, they allow the user to forgive or overlook certain shortcomings in a design.
I will admit, initially, I was skeptical about his idea. I assumed that it doesn’t matter if a design is aesthetically pleasing; if it works, then that’s what matters. But my perspective shifted when one of the lines mentioned a clean versus a dirty lookng car, especially since cars are things I look at much more frequently than I analyze designs. That made me realize that even without realizing it, we are drawn to more aesthetically pleasing designs and are almost tricked into thinking that something works better when it looks better. As I think back on my mid-term project, I also make a connection where if I had included more graphics and visual elements, I would have been able to overlook certain drawbacks in the game.
Overall, I gradually got more and more convinced by his idea the more I read, and I fully believe in his idea.
Her Code Got Humans on the Moon
I really appreciated how this reading highlighted the idea of Hamilton being the backbone of software programming and space exploration, especially the part that emphasized that she and the team were practically inventing key concepts of programming.
One of the things I particularly liked was the labelling of her as a positive radical and her ability to foresee certain mistakes before they happen. It really portrayed her passion towards programming and that she took it as more than just a career. It also still made me think about her motivations when programming and her meticulous nature. Especially since she faced ridicule as she mentioned for being a working mother. It made me question whether her detail-oriented nature was a result of her passion or fear of further ridicule and facing even further criticisms and blame.
I thought the text was concise, straight to the point, and delivered an important message in a beautiful way. I loved how it didn’t stop at just the process of Hamilton programming before the Apollo launch, but even mentioned what happened during the Apollo launch and how Hamilton had to quickly find a way to fix the error that occurred despite her constant warnings. It focused on both the process and the outcome.