Desgin Intelligence

The Psychology of Everyday Things

"This book is about the psychology of the everyday things. POET emphasizes the understanding of everyday things, things with knobs and dials, controls and switches , lights and meters. The instances we have just examined demonstrate several principles, including of visibility, appropriate clues, and feedback of one's actions. These principles constitute a form of psychology, the psychology of how people interact with things. A British designer once noted that the kinds of materials used in the construction of passenger shelters affected the way vandals responded. He suggested that there might be a psychology of materials. "

I like the fact that Norman connected all the principles and included them as a form of psychology. I would have never thought of it that way. All of the properties have a lot to do with a person's way of thinking, and I agree with Norman on the fact that it's the psychology of how people interact with things and their ideas and putting them together that make a successful design.

Many of the designs that were invented in 1988 are some of the most important designs we use on a regular bases today. For example the telephone and the refrigerator, they are designs invented many years ago, but they always need a boost, or an upgrade to make it look more modern, and because of the fact that it consistently needs to be remodeled, many designers try to make it more interesting by adding more functions to the designs and make it look like "a perfect thing". Norman's book still influences designers twenty years later, because it reminds them of the key points that are important in constructing a successful design, and making sure they don't make mistakes like the examples Norman displays.

The factors that I definitely would keep on my checklist are making sure the function of the product is visible, it illustrates affordance, mapping, and if needed, a good conceptual model. As long as I keep these factors in my checklist, my product would have the qualities of usability and understanding, which is the main focus of the product.