Donald Norman: The Design of Everyday Things - Chapter 1

Annotated Bibliography
In the first chapter of his book, The Design of Everyday Things, Donald Norman discusses everyday objects that bring frustration into the user's life. Norman says that when a person is unable to use a simple object then it is the fault of the designer and not of the person, though people have a tendency to blame themselves for not being able to figure out how to operate an object. According to Norman, good design has a few key characteristics, including affordances, good and visible conceptual models, natural mapping and feedback. Affordances are what objects allow to happen naturallyl Conceptual models are how people think an object functions, this should be matched to how it actually functions through design cues. Natural mapping shows the relationship between things and feedback allows people to make adjustments to their actions and see if they are correct. Norman talks about the trade off between visual simplicity and conceptual simplicity using the example of a phone system. At the extremes there could be a button for every function, or there could be just a few buttons that have to be pushed in certain combinations in order to achieve the desired function. Both are confusing and good design finds balance between the two.

My Thoughts
This concept is very important when it comes to education. I watch people try things and call themselves names for being unable to do them whether it's open a drawer or accomplish a more difficult task. People tend to assume it's their fault and that they're dumb or incompetent. When it comes to designing educational software, the hazard in bad design is that by making a student feel incompetent they are less motivated to try again or to have positive associations with a particular subject or even school in general. Good design could have enormous impact on education. The challenge with designing for education it seems is that good design will be different for each person because mental strengths and weaknesses vary. Physical constraints become challenging to incorporate in a virtual environment, but it is not impossible.

Also, there is a door in my office building that I always push instead of pulling. I felt stupid about it every time until I read this. Now I see that the affordances are all wrong and the reason is that the door used to swing in the opposite direction but it was switched when the space was renovated. They just didn't change out the hardware. Now I feel smarter than the door.