norman@sdics.UUCP (04/14/87)
Stories, data wanted I am writing a book called POET: The Psychology of Everyday Things. It deals with design -- in particular, the poor design, of everyday things. I deal with things both simple and complex. Simple things that can cause grief are things like water faucets, light switches, and doors. Slightly more complex (but still everyday) things that lead to frustrations include vcr controls, automobile dashboards (especially auto radios, cruise controls, those ubiquituous stalks, and heating controls), telephone systems (ah, those new multi-functioned telephones now being installed in universities and businesses across the world, with mysterious buttons labelled "R," where people stand around saying "My phone is ringing, now what do I do?"). Get the point? I am trying to show that designers of consumer goods have comletely negelected the consumer. They aim for aesthetics, for cost, for hi-tech appearance, for prizes from design societies (one of my sections is entitled: watch out for things that have won a prize"). Do you have examples or favorite horror stories to tell me? Examples are like my friend who got caught between doors and couldn't get out (because the architect had gone for a sleek expanse of glass, with invisible hinges and hardware, so one couldn't tell which side of the door moved), or the frustration of groping for a clock radio to shut off the alarm or to hit the snooze button, but changing the time of day instead, or like my refrigerator (a GE) on which I cannot figure out how to set the freezer and fresh food section temperatures. Note that I am also trying to give positive examples of good design. There are a number of examples I already have. Please send me examples of particularly good design. [In the book I also try to give constructive criticism, showing the psychological principles that lead to understandability and usability of products (and that do not necessarily conflict with the real economic and aesthetic constraints that the designer also faces).] Don Norman "Kenneth H. Olsen, the engineer who founded and still runs Digital Equipment Corp., confessed at the annual meeting that he can't figure out how to heat a cup of coffee in the company's microwave oven." (Wall Street Journal, Friday, Nov 21, 1986) Donald A. Norman Institute for Cognitive Science C-015 University of California, San Diego La Jolla, California 92093 norman@nprdc.arpa norman%sdics@sdcsvax norman@ics.ucsd.edu
marvit@hplabsc.UUCP (Peter Marvit) (04/15/87)
For a wonderful and amazing treatise on good design principles for architecture and civil engineering, see Christopher Alexander's "A Pattern Language" avaliable at any full-service bookstall. Bad examples of industrial design include: a) most American cars' dashboards and controls b) 90% of the wine cork pullers c) the IBM PC jr keyboard d) hand-held "food processors" (actual name escapes me) e) An incredible number of lamps and lights f) the list goes on... -Peter Marvit HP Labs (marvit@hplabs.hp.com)
mmp@cuba.UUCP (04/15/87)
In article <339@sdics.ucsd.EDU>, norman@sdics.ucsd.EDU (Donald A. Norman) writes: > (one of my > sections is entitled: watch out for things that have won a prize"). > ... > Note that I am also trying to give positive examples of good design. > There are a number of examples I already have. Please send me > examples of particularly good design. > Check out Bang & Olefsun audio equipment. It is great looking, sleek, and very easy to use. And that even when it's won prizes! I like their older stuff better than the new. Except their CD player, their newer stuff is just gadgety, and not very nice looking. ____________________________________________________ * Matt Perez * sun!cuba!mmp (415) 691-7544 DISCLAIMER: beisbole has bean bery, bery guud too me
pratt@paul.UUCP (04/15/87)
How about some functional clothing? Banana Republic sells very durable clothing, with all sorts of redundancy built in. I am wearing a pair of their "Jungle fatigues". These have two sizes of extra buttons sewn into the waist, drawstrings at the ankles to keep bugs out, big baggy pleated pockets, and this little stitch near the knee which unfolds when you bend your leg and folds when you unbend them. Also, a little thing to tighten when you gain or lose weight. These beasts cost $40 but they'll last three times as long as clothes which cost half as much.
mark@cci632.UUCP (Mark Stevans) (04/16/87)
In article <16728@sun.uucp> mmp%cuba@Sun.COM (Matt M. Perez [Graphics Projects]) writes: >In article <339@sdics.ucsd.EDU>, norman@sdics.ucsd.EDU (Donald A. Norman) writes: > >> sections is entitled: watch out for things that have won a prize"). >> >Check out Bang & Olefsun audio equipment. It is great looking, >sleek, and very easy to use. And that even when it's won >prizes! I like their older stuff better than the new. Except >their CD player, their newer stuff is just gadgety, and not >very nice looking. B&O audio proves Don's point, not disproves it. B&O has won zillions of design prizes. Their equipment is indeed great- looking, and easy to use. However, B&O units cost much, much more than functionally equivalent units made by companies less obsessed with winning design awards, say JVC or Sony. I do not believe that B&O equipment is as reliable as that of the aforementioned manufacturers, and there are relatively few repair shops that service B&O units. I would compare B&O audio equipment to Saab cars. Saab cars have won many Eurodesign awards. However, they are not especially reliable (according to Consumer Reports), and there are very few places to get them serviced. I would buy a more reliable and lower priced yet functionally equivalent Japanese car over a Saab. Mark Stevans cci632!mark
marty1@houdi.UUCP (04/17/87)
In article <50900001@hplabsc.UUCP>, marvit@hplabsc.UUCP writes: > Bad examples of industrial design include: > ..... > b) 90% of the wine cork pullers THIMK! It's not the puller that's at fault! The cork was designed to stay in the bottle for many years with high probability of retaining a seal. It was not designed to be easy to remove. It takes skill to remove a cork whether you use a puller, a pusher, or a corkscrew. What the world needs is not a better puller for the cork, but a modern closure to replace the cork. By the way, I'm not a poor workman finding fault with his tools. Not only can I use several different types of corkscrew successfully, including the one on my Swiss Army knife, but I have also put a few hundred corks into bottles of wine of my own making, using a hand tool. I think what we're talking about is the design of tools to be used by casual users who don't have training or experience. There's a big difference between tools for a casual user and professional tools. For instance, the "waiter's corkscrew" (a folding lever affair) may be just what a waiter needs, since it fits in a pocket easily, but it's a disaster in the hands of an unskilled user. I know from experience. Does a discussion of corkscrews belong in comp.cog-eng? Yes, as an analogy. What I said about wine corks and wine cork pullers is also true about computer-based tools and what they do. I.e., if your computer tool is doing its job badly, maybe it's doing the wrong job. M. B. Brilliant Marty AT&T-BL HO 3D-520 (201)-949-1858 Holmdel, NJ 07733 ihnp4!houdi!marty1