Assignment #2 - Design of Everyday Things

The Design of Everyday Things

Did this book have an effect on me? Let me answer this with a story:

Two day ago, I took a sign in sheet and pen over to a student who arrived late to a lab I was peer teaching. The pen I handed him wasn't suppose to be clicked, but what did he do? Of course, he proceeded to try clicking it, like most other pens in the world. He then did just what this book said he would, blame himself. I believe the exact words where, ‘an engineering major can’t even figure out a pen.’ Of course, I proceeded to give him an mini lecture over design issues. He looked at me like I was crazy, but it’s true! It was designed badly.

I very much enjoyed this book. First, it provided me with comfort. I have always had a disdain of faucets. I always either scald myself from turning the heat up too much or spray myself from turning the volume on too high. I always just thought of myself as faucet-inept, and it brings comfort to me that I am not alone in my disdain.

In addition, I agree with him that most software is not designed well. This is actually an area I am very interested in, and I was actually planning on reading this book eventually for the perspective. I find that especially in the computer science and engineering field, developers do not understand or have a desire to understand who the users will be. I believe this fuels the belief that all computer developers are shut-ins who sit in the dark and play Dungeons and Dragons in their spare time.  This is also why people who didn’t grow up with a certain technology cannot understand how to use it. If it was designed well, even people who have never used something before should be able to use it.

In my opinion, this book basically give a checklist that every person involved in developing a user interface from start to production should use. If it doesn’t pass, it should be redesigned. That checklist would be:

1. Does it use both knowledge in the world and knowledge in the head in correct proportions?

2. Does it simplify the structure of tasks?

3. Does it make things visible so as to bridge the gulfs of Execution and Evaluation?

4. Does it get mappings right? (This is a big one to me)

            5. Does it exploit the power of constraints, both natural and artificial?

            6. Is it designed for errors? It shouldn’t allow errors or at least make them reversible.

            7. If there is no other choice, is it standardized at least?

If every designer and developer would keep these things in mind, there would be a whole lot less in the world for David Norman to rant about. As a sidenote, he should update the rants in his book some. The principles are fine, but the rants he uses to explain them are way outdated. In fact, some of them confused me at first. I wasn’t even born until 1991, so some of his rants lack meaning. For example he when he is complaining about have a command line based computer, I cannot imagine what that is like.

Overall, this book was an enjoyable and enlightening read. I would recommend it to anyone who will be making products for people on any level in any field.

Chapter 1

I loved the story about the guy getting trapped by the doorway! It was hilarious and was a good antecedent to start off a book on design. It reminded of the many times I ran into doors I expected to open and couldn’t. Doors do not bother me as much a faucets though. He mentioned faucets briefly, so I hope he will spend some time on them later. To me the thing that stuck out most from this chapter though, was the fact that people keep buying these things even though the design is bad! You can’t fully blame the designer for the bad design if we keep supporting it. Take the clock at the end of the chapter. It is like the Swiss army knife of clocks! It is sad though because I bet someone would buy it, so the producer would just keep on making them, unaware that the person couldn’t even use it.

Chapter 2

This chapter made a good point about normal people being naïve about things like physics. Designers cannot assume any kind of knowledge in the user for everyday things. If the designers don’t provide the user the needed information in the actual design of the object, the person will start to form their own ideas, and it is very likely that those ideas will be very wrong. I did enjoy the explanation of how the thermostat works. I was one of those people who thought that turning it up higher would make it warmer faster. I, like most people, formed a wrong conceptual model.

Chapter 3

I loved how he went into detail on how memory works. It just amazes me how much information we don’t actually keep ourselves. If you asked anyone on the street if they knew what a penny looked like, they wouldn’t hesitate to say yes. Put it to the test with the quiz provided by the book, and I bet vast majority will get it wrong. In fact, my mom and I both took the test, and we both selected a different wrong answer. We had to go dig out a real penny to figure it out! I can’t even blame it on using a card most of time like most people in my generation because I am one of those weird people who like using cash. Similarly, I know for a fact that I couldn’t order the keys on a keyboard without really thinking hard about it. Even then, I wouldn’t remember where the keys with only symbols on them go. The part of his memory discussion where he talks about epic poetry was very interesting to me. I took a World Literature class for my culture diversity credit, and my professor talked about this very same thing. It was all about memorizing the patterns. The structure was the same, but the actual details varied every time. The details were usually based on what was surrounding the poet at the time of the reciting. Regardless of the details, I still think reciting the epic poems was quite a feat. 

Chapter 4

I was actually surprised that people were able to put the cop Lego toy together correctly. I’m not sure I would have been able to without any instructions or anything. Then again I didn’t try it myself, so he is probably right about all the constraints only allowing one way to do it. If a person can put something together with no instructions or guidance, it was truly designed well. By this point in the book, it is official. This is where Matthew McFadden was getting the majority of his stories. He told me about the keg tap handles being used to tell switches apart literally two days before I read about it in the book. It was a good idea on their part though. They definitely won’t be able to mix up the switches anymore. Switches are really hard to work when there are a bunch on a panel, and they all control a different thing. When I was in high school, I organized the National Honor Society Induction ceremony one year, and I had to find someone to control the audio and lighting control in the middle school auditorium where we were going to have it. I found only one person who knew how it worked, a student who was part of the theatre club. Things shouldn’t be so specialized that only one person knows how to do it. If that person isn’t around, no one else could cover it. That is a definite sign of bad design.

Chapter 5

In his discussion of fixing slips, I thought it was funny he was wanting a temporary holding place for when removing files. I believe that is the purpose of the recycle bin! I just feel like his technology examples are a bit old. I don’t remember a time when the computer didn’t have a trash can for deleted items. I wasn’t a fan of his discussion on Connectionist Approach theory. Not necessarily because I agree/disagree, but because I thought he was too long winded and detailed. He didn’t need to be that detailed to make the point he wanted to. I also didn’t appreciate the discussions of plane accidents. I am about to fly for the first time in my life soon, so they made me a little nervous. That is a personal feeling though, and I thought they were great examples of social pressure and errors. It’s amazing how much we are influenced by others.

Chapter 6

I am one of those special people designers do not design for often. I am not as tall as the average person, and therefore, some things are not well suited to me. For example, I can never find pants that fit me. All my pants are at least 4 inches too long, if not longer, shelves are often way to high for me, and my feet are rarely flat on the floor when I am sitting. I don’t think people should design things especially for my height though. If I need to reach a tall shelf, I go get a stool or a chair to climb on. I am glad that I finally reached the point where he discusses faucets. I hate faucets so much. As I said earlier, I also turn it the wrong way and end up with scalding water or to much volume of water so it sprays all over me. I know he said that there is a cultural constraint of clockwise turning off the water and counterclockwise turning it on, but no one ever follows that rule. In fact, the sink in my place in college station doesn’t even follow the rule. I am beginning to wonder how he feels about Smartphones though. By this point, he has asked for the ability to do many things that Smartphones do currently. Does he feel like they are well designed or too complicated to use? He should make an updated book that addresses this among other things.

Chapter 7

This chapter had an excellent summary. It touched lightly on all of the different principles he brought up in the earlier chapters of this book and tied them together quite nicely. In his discussion of standardization, his description of a new time scale was so confusing! Obviously, it was meant to be that way, but it is very interesting how attached we get to one way of doing things, even if it is arbitrary, that any change seems horrible. I was kind of shocked he didn’t want a smart home though. I wish those existed! After watching the 1999 Disney Channel Original Movie, Smart House, it was a dream of mine. If it is designed well and the technology is sophisticated enough, I do not think they will be a difficult to manage as he thinks they will be. We will just have to follow his rules when making them!

Well Designed Objects

#1 IBM M Model Keyboard

While this keyboard is very old (from the 80s), I think it was very well designed. It was made with a buckling spring key design and many having fully swappable keycaps. Because of the buckling spring design, it provides tactile and auditory feedback resulting from a keystroke. This feedback is very satisfactory when typing. It can every speed up your typing ability because of the feedback. It was also made very durable. Many of the models made back in the mid 80s are still being used today. [2]

#2 - Dyson Vacuum Cleaner

I have a mild obsession with the purple version of this vacuum cleaner. It is a prime example of good design. It is equal parts aesthetics, usability, and quality.  The ball technology it has is both attractive and useful. With it, moving around objects is much easier. It is such a simple idea done in a beautiful way. The center of gravity is also lower, so it is more stable. This is a good thing for clumsy people like me. Based on reviews, it takes longer getting the parts out of the box than it does assembling it, so that goes back to constraints allowing only one right way. [3]

#3 iPod Classic

I have the black version of this, and it is a must have for any music lover. Disgarding its amazing music capaicity, it is so sleek and easy to use. I before buying an iPod, I had several cheaper mp3 players that did not live up to my expectations. The buttons would be hard to navigate and it was hard to manage without looking at the controls. The iPod is nice because the controls map well. For example, you just move your figure clockwise over the circular band to increase the volume and counterclockwise to decrease the volume. Obviously, you push on the left side to go back a song and right to move forward and push the center button to select. After the initial discovery of how the controls work, it is almost impossible to forget how the basics work because of how they map. [4]

#4 Hydrive bottle

This bottle is well designed because it keeps the user in mind. Who drink energy drinks more than any other group? College students, of course! And what are college students always doing? Moving! Between going to class and all the different events and group activities we do, we are always on the go. Most energy drinks though are not designed that way. They are made like normal soda cans, and therefore, are not resealable. This drink bottle, on the other hand, has a screwable top. That means I can carry it in my backpack between classes and drink it during lectures to keep me awake without worrying about it spilling. Whoever designed this bottle was definitely thinking about what the users would be doing while drinking it. [5]

#5 Command Hooks

This was also made with the user in mind. It is hard to find ways to hang things in a way that won’t  harm the wall but also is sturdy. I use these things all over my room for numureous things, including holding up decorations and my towels for drying. A wall hook in and of itself is well designed. It affords only one use, and that is to hang something on it. Command hook does one better and makes attaching it to the wall simple too. You pretty much just stick it to the wall and when you want to remove it, just push up to detach it. Easy, right? [6]

Badly Designed Objects

#1 Mini Flashlight from Career Fair



This flashlight suffers from two problems. One is feedback, and one is visibility. The visibility issue is that it looks like there is a visible button on the top to start the flashlight, but in reality, there is no button! What appears to be a button is just plastic like the rest of it. To turn the flashlight on, you have to twist it. There is no indicator of this. The way you twist it to turn off is the same as the way you twist to unscrew it to put in batteries. There is no feedback to tell you when you hit the unscrewing part, so if you turn it too far off, you might  accidently   unscrew the back part way. Also if you are putting the back part back on, you might  accidently turn the flashlight on. There should be an indicator point between off and unscrew. 


#2 Double Sided DVDs

There is a visibility issue on double sided DVDs. There are no markings on either side, so you don't know which side is which. I have a couple of movies that have little to no markings on them, so I cannot figure out which side has the actual movie on it and which has the extra features. My Microsoft Office CD came with few markings too and I always mix up which disk I want out of the set. The visibility issue in double sided DVDs causes me a lot of trouble. [7]

#3 Wii Disc Insertion Slot


My problem with the Wii isn't with the Wii itself, but the slot you use to insert the disc. Since it stands vertical, it is hard to tell which way to insert the game discs. Does the design side go towards the on-console controls or away from them? I can never remember, and I always end up picking the wrong one. What they should do, since it allows you to insert it both ways, is expect the person to make this error and accept it both ways. [8]

#4 This Eye Shadow Holder

Looking at this eye shadow case, you see the label and a little notch indicating to pull. With both of those on the one side, you would assume it is the top, correct? Wrong. This side is actually the bottom, but of course I never remember that. I just see the notch and pull. I end up opening it up upside down and the eye shadow applicator falls to the ground. Obviously, they have a visibility issue.







#5 This Pen


When I want to start writing and reach for this pen, I'm not really looking at it, so the first thing I try is clicking it on the highlighter part. Obviously, that doesn't work, so I look at it with my peripheral vision, and see the cap. I end up struggling with it until I  accidently twist the cap and remember that you have to twist the cap to open the pen on the other in. There is nothing visible to indicate that, and in fact there is a visible cap to make you think quite the opposite. On a side note, whatever company gave it to me forgot to put their logo on it, so they didn't even get free advertising out of my frustration.

Sources

[1] The Design of Everyday Things by. Donald Norman

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard

[3] http://www.dyson.com/vacuums/uprights/dc41/dc41-animal.aspx  and http://www.amazon.com/review/RFAOCHQA6ARMR/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#RFAOCHQA6ARMR

[4] http://www.apple.com/ipodclassic/

[5] http://whatidrinkatwork.blogspot.com/2010/05/hydrive-energy-electrolyte-formula.html

[6] http://www.command.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/NACommand/Command/Products/Catalog/~/

Command-Designer-Large-Hook?N=5925882&rt=rud
[7] http://www.union.edu/library/about/departments/technical-services/cataloging/general/dvd/dvdphysical/index.php
[8] http://wii.com/