Design of Everyday Things: Chapters 1-3 reactions + overall reaction

My reaction to the Book in General

     After reading the entirety of Donald A. Normand's "Design of Everyday Things" I have a whole new perspective on design and just how much it influences my day to day activities. It's a great book because he constantly assaults the reader with relate-able examples such as the NES, phones, microwaves, doors, etcs. The book really entered my mind, it almost has a psychological approach to design. I'm afraid I won't be able to look at doors and phones the same way again.

     Another thing I really liked is the amount of personality Mr. Normand put into the book. He says his opinions, you can tell of his clear distaste for telephones. He also tells most of the stories in first person. I can't tell if they're all true but the way it's presented makes it a lot more relate-able.

     If I had any complaints about the book they would be that the examples are very outdated. I imagine that by now a lot of the inherent design flaws he mentions have been fixed. But the concepts ring very true, and the examples make his points very clear. I also think that sometimes he goes on and on. Sometimes I get bored of the point he's trying to make when he's explaining his third example of said point. Considering this can happen several times in a row, the book can become tedious to read. ]

     Overall it's a great book, I would recommend it.

Chapter 1 Reaction

     Chapter 1 begins the book by going through several examples of obvious bad design. The author doesn't describe things in detail, nor does he say what makes good design. What he does is show pictures and describes things we have all seen before. He explains why the design is bad and how it will cause troubles. He goes on to explain a conceptual model ( a mental of image of the parts and workings of a device ) and then later visibility which he describes using a very good refrigerator example. He then introduces Mapping and Feedback which are two of the takeaways in the book. If you remember anything, it's mapping and feedback. The chapter concludes with feedback.

     This is a great opening chapter mostly because it sets the tone for the rest of the book. By the end of the first chapter you realize the effect design has on us. You don't necessarily understand why yet or how, but it gives you enough to make you want more. The examples are really powerful and I'm glad he stresses the ideas of Mapping and Feedback earlier in the book because I notice it continuously for the rest of it.

Chapter 2 Reaction

     To understand the importance of design it's also important to understand the psychology behind people and how they interact with everyday things. He begins to explain and give examples of how bad design can lead to blame and helplessness and then goes on to explain how people do things. Mr. Norman gives 7 steps in which people go through when they act.

1. Forming the goal
2. Forming the intention
3. Specifying an action
4. Executing the action
5. Perceiving the state of the world
6. Interpreting the 

And he concludes with the Gulfs of Execution and Evaluation.

    I actually thought this was perhaps the weakest of all the chapters. I think it's because it's the least relate-able of them all.

Chapter 3 Reaction

    Chapter 3 is really cool because it explains how you use memory. It explains why we remember things and how we organize them. To me, this is the opposite of chapter 2, Everything I read in this chapter I could think of how I remember things and it makes sense to me. It's like I've always been aware of what goes on in my head, but it's never been put in words like this before. He explains how information can in the world or in our heads and how we try and put meaningful relationships together to help organize our memory. This chapter also explains how design needs to work with our brains to create a great product.

To be continued following blog post...