Norman,“Emotion & Design: Attractive things work better”
This is so interesting. I’ve thought about design quite often because it’s something I’m always interested in, but the way Norman explains it made me think about design outside the box. The idea that “attractive” or “pretty” things actually work better is something I never fully considered before. I used to think functionality comes first and that’s it, but now I’m realizing that looks and feelings can change how we experience it. One part I thought of was the idea of modernization. As someone with OCD, I used to want everything to be in a very specific and controlled way, at least the things I could control. Recently, though I’ve started to realize that a bit of chaos or imperfection can actually be better. Norman’s examples of teapots reminded me of older designs and advertisements. In the past, designs were mainly focused on solving problems and functioning well, while aesthetics didn’t matter as much. Now, because of technology and how easily we can solve everyday problems, aesthetics have become much more important.
Norman’s idea of feelings and the “science of emotions” explains how our emotions shape the way we interact with the world. At the same time, I think this idea can be tricky. A design might try to create a specific emotion for users, but not everyone will feel the same way? This is where design becomes complicated, because emotions are not universal. Still, we often rely on shared associations, like color symbolism, to guide those emotional responses. For example, European street lights have been trending recently on social media because of their yellow lights. Now, whenever people reference European streets or a certain “vibe,” it automatically connects to that lighting. Adding on to the city designs, streets and roads specifically, I usually think of New York and how the streets are structured. I used to believe that everything being clean, organized, and “perfect” was better, so I would compare it to how roads are designed in the UAE and imagine how beneficial it would be if they were more like New York. But now I realize that what looks visually appealing or aesthetic is not always what functions best.
Overall, this reading made me realize that design is not just about making something work, but about how it makes people feel while using it. In my future projects I want to experiment with this idea of ‘attractiveness’ as well as focusing on the feelings from my perspective as the artist/creator but also the audience’s perspective.
Her Code Got Humans on the Moon
I always think about fate and destiny, which I personally find very beautiful. If Margaret’s 4 year old daughter Lauren didn’t pre-launch the system, then they wouldn’t have discovered that flaw and she wouldn’t have been able to think about a solution. Thinking about Margaret’s perspective, I expected her to get mad over the “ruined” project, but instead she treated it as an opportunity to improve the system. That mindset really stood out to me because it shows how mistakes aren’t always setbacks, they can actually prevent bigger failures later.
I also found it interesting how people were punching holes into stacks of cards to represent code, and how everything had to be perfect before running it because there was no room for edits. This made me reflect on how different my experience with coding is today because I’m constantly editing, fixing, and experimenting with my code which I now am very thankful for this flexibility. Back then, one small mistake could cost so much time and effort, which means they had always think carefully. This connects a lot to my own work and even my daily habits. I always know that there is a command z button I can press and have everything how it used to be, and I know that I can always go back and fix things. But reading this made me question whether I’m sometimes too dependent on that flexibility instead of thinking things through more deeply from the start. Like I always say to my friends, I wish there was a command z button in life so I can go back.
Overall, I think Margaret’s story inspires me to be more aware of the “impossible” or unexpected scenarios, because there is always a possibility of things going wrong. I also want to start using bugs as opportunities for growth in a more intentional way because normally, I just fix the issue, learn from it, and move on, but now I’m thinking about how I can actually expand from a single mistake, whether that’s improving the system, adding new features, or preventing future errors. I guess I’ll have to experiment with that next time.