Assignment 4-1 Norman 1 Course Blog Entry

Norman’s book begins by giving all sorts of examples of bad designs. He makes note of a complicated phone system that had buttons that no one knew what they were for. It made me start thinking about all the issues I have had in the past with getting items to do as they should. Being in computer science, getting computers to do what I want has often been a challenge. I stopped and thought about the reasons why this happens so often. I think that in the field of technology, many people are intimidated by devices they cannot get to work in the first minute they use it. I also think that many engineers are very intelligent and capable of getting a product to do something but often fail to relate to the end user. They sometimes seem to be on a different plane of thought.

Norman also talks about the topic of natural mapping. Keeping buttons next to what they operate may seem like a simple and obvious idea but it is one that is frequently overlooked. Proper labeling and the use of pictures help keep things simple and more obvious to more people. The marking of the stove burners is one that would always get me. I still usually need to read their labels. Good design can allow people from different language speaking countries and of many levels of intelligence to be able to easily use a product.

Under the topic of memory, I particularly found coin examples interesting since I collected them a lot as a kid. I was always excited when I would get a Susan B. Anthony dollar in my change instead of a quarter. The exercise to pick out the correct Lincoln penny was also tougher than I thought and I looked at thousands of pennies as a kid. It just shows that people take a lot of things for granted. There are many details of design that will be missed and many that will be misunderstood.