In this reading, Norman discusses the psychological aspects of design, especially focusing on how users often blame themselves for difficulties with poorly designed objects rather than recognizing the design flaws. He introduces the term “psychopathology” to describe the mental stress and frustration caused by poorly designed objects.
During one of the lectures in a core I took last semester, “Re-Design” with professor Goffredo Puccetti, we learnt about one of the Universal Principles of Design, which is “Accommodation”, which is basically when you design an object that can be used by most of the population. Like certain designs don’t seem to be a hindrance in most cases, like stairs.
Let’s take a beautiful beach as an example. A scenic view right here on Saadiyat Island. But what’s that? Not everyone can enjoy it? Because of the stairs?
According to WHO, an estimated 1.3 billion people experience significant disability. That’s a whopping 16% of the population, coming to 1 in 6 of us. And despite there being a significant number of people who can’t access stairs, there still seems to be designers who don’t accommodate such people. Consequently, these people end up not going to places due to their disabilities and blame themselves.
All in all, what I got from the first chapter is that it explores the principles of good design and the impact it can have on people’s daily lives.