Book Reading #1 - Design of Everyday Things

Comments:
Comment 1
Comment 2

References:
Title: The Design of Everyday Things
Author: Donald A. Norman
Editor: Judy Greissman, 1988

Summary:
In this book, Norman describes the psychology behind how we use objects in our daily lives and applies this knowledge to give us rules to abide by during the design process. Throughout he gives examples to show both good and bad designs, often with pictures. These examples and tips come together to help us avoid badly designed products, like the quite awkward gun to the left.

Norman divides the chapters into sections based on processes of the mind you must cater to during the design process, including: actions, memory, visibility, and errors. In each section, he gives models of the brain as psychologists understand it and then details design concepts that assist the brain in using your product correctly. Some of the design tips he gives include constraints, standards, natural mappings, and mental models. Finally, he has a short section on how to make objects intentionally difficult to use for security or safety purposes.

References:
I think this book has done the best job so far of showing the usefulness of HCI in the design process of everything we have read. The concepts he presents here are useful not only in the design of physical products but also in the design of software and even games. Of all the books that have been presented so far, this is definitely the one most likely to stay on my bookshelf. On the not-so-bright side, the book has no tips for making good-looking designs, so anything made using only this as a manual would probably look extremely utilitarian.

(Image courtesy of: ssw.com)