The Psychopathology of Everyday Things Gianni Ciccarelli Doors

The Psychopathology of Everyday Things Gianni Ciccarelli

Doors vs. Airplanes The Farside, by Gary Larson

What is Good Design? The most important characteristics of design are: Discoverability • How easy is it for an agent to figure out possible actions associated with something Understanding • What is it’s overall purpose Dilbert, by Scott Adams

Fields of Design Industrial Design • Professional service of creating concepts that benefit the user and manufacturer Experience Design • Designing with the goal of creating enjoyable user experience Interaction Design • Interaction with technology • Let user know what can, and has been, done

Deficiencies in human-machine interaction have many causes, but the most likely one is a lack of understanding due to poor product design. Keep in mind that as the creator of a product you are biased in your understanding of it. Norman doors have push & pull signs indicating the opposite of what you are supposed to do to open it

Human-Centered Design Good design starts with an understanding of psychology and technology, but also requires good communication, even from machine to person. Human-Centered Design (HCD) is a design approach that puts human needs, capabilities, and behavior first. While HCD is the process, industrial, interaction, and experience design are the areas of focus HCD can be applied to

Fundamental Principles of Interaction • • • Will it blend? Affordances Signifiers Constraints Mappings Feedback Conceptual Model

Technology Paradox Technology simplifies life by providing more functions in each device, but also almost paradoxically complicates life by making the device more difficult to learn This paradox creates a unique design challenge for the creator Find balance between functionality, usability, and cost

Questions: • Back to the beginning of the chapter, could we, and should we, make an airplane as simple to operate as a door? • What are some examples of good user interface designs you’ve encountered, and WHY were they good? • Is it more efficient to have directions on a product, or to design it with greater discoverability?