Lou Fuiano
ITI Spring 2006
Duff

The Design of Everyday Things
Chapter 2
Donald A. Norman

The Desire to Understand

Q: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?

A: One, but the light bulb has to really want to change.

In this second chapter of Donald Norman's book, I was particularly curious about the points regarding human behavior. He lists topics that bring several things into consideration. For one: A person's mental state when they interact with something.

Naive Physics are a familiar behavior. My wife is an educated woman and an architect, yet, when we first met, she had this habit of getting into a cold car and cranking the heat up to "Ice Station Zebra". I felt it was my duty to explain that the engine had to be warm before the car could generate heat. She wanted no parts of this theory, she was cold, and she wanted heat now! I've had similar experiences myself. Logic, intuition and experience be damned when you're in a rankled mental or emotional state. Needless to say, these pose a real challenge to designers.

Blaming Yourself and Learned Helplessness seem the biggest challenges however. This one detail could prevent someone from doing a whole lifetime of things. I started thinking of a person's desire or will to do something. How can the designer encourage a certain behavior. I may be off the subject a bit but, as a teacher, I would always tell students that: "Desire is what matters. Talent or skill is often a byproduct of desire". For a couple years I had about a dozen music students. I taught clarinet, flute and saxophones. The students were kids, somewhere between 9 and 12 years old. These are instruments with an unusual interface. In most cases this is a design that has been unchanged for centuries. Unlike piano or guitar, the "affordance" of a saxophone is not as clear or immediate. It may take a full lesson before you can get it to produce a sound. Sure, I talked to students about technique, sound and practice habits. Mostly, I served as a steady voice of encouragement. It was important to get the students interested in coming each week. If they liked it, they allowed themselves to learn. Of course, whether or not you like something is very subjective.

Good design attempts to work with these characteristics. It encourages your interaction. Good design invites you in and pays off with something useful or illuminating. Good design is empowering. However, the diverse psychology of various users is a wide and unpredictable terrain. When Norman discusses affordance, it all seems very academic... as it should be. Norman states that good design should posses usability and utility. He also points out that design is now a commodity in line with the old stand-by of quality and service. When we talk about getting someone to choose to use something, that may depend on a slightly less scientific explanation.

Of course, seducing a user with surface and shapes can only do so much. It's easy to see how designers overly concern themselves with encouraging use, or better yet, purchase, by creating objects that appeal to this simple sensibility. In class last week someone pointed out that it's impossible to design something that satisfies everyone. Human behavior and experience make it so.

The closing points of this chapter were all the more essential.

Visibility, Good Mappings, Strong Conceptual Model and Feedback. These should be the point of departure for good design.

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