Book Reading #6 - Things That Make us Smart

References:
Title: Things that Make us Smart
Author: Donald Norman
Editor:Bill Patrick, 1993

Summary:
In this book, Norman talks about how technology can assist or hinder us in our daily lives based on how well it is designed. He begins by discussing how most design today is technology-centered, which is why it's so confusing to use. Instead, if the designs were human-centered, they would fit much better into our lives.

He then discusses two states of the mind, experiential and reflective, and discusses how good designs place us in the right state for a task, while bad designs do not. He then discusses the importance of using the correct designs when displaying data as well as using the correct tools when working on a job. Doing so will keep you in the correct mindset for the task.

Discussion:
I feel like for learning how to design, this book is not as important as the last two we have read, as it talks less about the design of products and instead looks at their effects on the user. However, as an examination of the effects of technology on us it is quite successful. I am definitely going to think more about how I use objects in relation to the tasks I am trying to perform from now on.

(Image courtesy of: PBS)