Full Blog: Design of Everyday Things

Reference Information:

Title: Design of Everyday Things
Author: Donald Norman
Editor: Basic Books, 2002

Summary:

This book covered topics related to the design practice and principles of things we use on an every day basis. The arguments contained inside it outline what the author considers to be both good and bad design practices. He presents his proofs using examples for many common items we use regularly, such as typewriters, telephones, and water faucets.

He constructs a paradigm of "do's and don'ts" for anyone considering the design of objects. He discusses many of the psychological processes involved. He covers the concept of the natural mapping of objects such that the end user understands intuitively the function intended. He also discusses utilizing constraints in a planned manner such that the end user will have limited choices to make at any point in the operation procedure such that each intermediary step will be simplified, and the whole process is ultimately streamlined.

Making mistakes when using objects designed by others is a common and widespread problems. He introduces the concept of slips, which are errors that refer to intending to do one action and instead doing another. Some of the common slips he outlines are capture errors, description errors, data-driven errors, associative activation errors, loss-of-activation errors, and mode errors. Capture errors have to do with a frequently executed activity taking the place of the current one. Description errors occur when the current activity has a lot in common with other potential activities. Data-driven errors are ones that occur when doing something somewhat instinctual, but doing the wrong thing. Associative action errors are ones in which internal thoughts and associations cause external errors. Loss-of-activation errors is a case in which you simply forget to do something. Mode errors are ones that take place in situations where devices have different modes of operation and the action that is appropriate in one mode is not appropriate in another.

He made several points about the challenges that face designers and the problems they encounter. Among these issues are that sometimes, designer put the aesthetics of the device ahead of the functionality. Another is that often, the designer is not the intended user and views the design differently than the typical user does. He also mentions the pitfalls of feature creep and the temptation to add complexity in where it will only make the operation of the object more difficult.

Discussion:

This book was a fascinating read. It made me look at things in the real world in a way I hadn't before and challenged me to reconsider many of my own software designs in a new light. This is especially true when I consider the issue of designing user interfaces. Often, I have found that things that seemed intuitive and straightforward to me was perceived by others as confusing and convoluted. I have found that one of the great challenges of software designers is in bringing forth the best UI possible to help the end users operate the end product to their best ability.

A lot of the things he mentioned in the book seem obvious when you read them, though you may not have consciously thought of them much before. I often found myself reading through a section and nodding as I read, because he had pointed out something that I had already grasped. He just managed to pull it into a more cerebral and visceral level that made me take a more profound notice of the issue.

All in all, this would be a book I would recommend to anyone who is going to be involved in any kind of design work. It is also a good read for those who are curious about the things we use every day and why they have evolved in to their current design and form factors. Two thumbs up!