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The Design of Everyday Things – Book Summary and Notes

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Re: The Design of Everyday Things – Book Summary and Notes

#41

Post by christophilus »

wodenokoto wrote: post #15

This is definitely one of the books that has shaped my thinking the most. The book argues very strongly for functional design and design that makes usage obvious. “The way you use a thing should be encoded in the way the thing is, not in a manual”. I’ve been told there’s a follow up that concedes some of this and argues for emotional design. Something a long the lines of “this thing doesn’t need this handle, but it m…

> you slap on a $5 cover and never enjoy the premium materials and physical design

It is ridiculous, I agree. I don’t use a case. I do have a thin screen protector. Anytime I handle anyone else’s phone, I think, “This is so clunky, and would barely fit in my pocket.”

Re: The Design of Everyday Things – Book Summary and Notes

#42

Post by VieEnCode »

rwmj wrote: post #35
kriro wrote: post #30

Well the reality of industrial designers is quite interesting. I have a good friend who is doing this (his own small studio) and as someone with a software background the processes are mind boggling. The politics involved are amazing. Weeks of debating color choices. Back and forth between departments (including the realization at a couple of month in that production costs would be through the roof...something mentio…

I used to work for a mortgage broker, and there was a "Best Mortgage Broker of 200x Award" that basically rotated each year around the participating companies.

I strongly suspect that many awards in the legal industry work in this way also.

Re: The Design of Everyday Things – Book Summary and Notes

#44

Post by shard »

NKosmatos wrote: post #18
arkitaip wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The book makes you question the sanity of a world that even gets the design of doors wrong.

A "Norman door" is a poorly designed door that confuses or fails to give you an idea whether to push, pull or slide. https://99percentinvisible.org/article/norman-doors-dont-kno...

Does that concept have a name now? That reminds me of this Japanese comedy sketch about doors: https://youtu.be/nq-2USGVoEE

Re: The Design of Everyday Things – Book Summary and Notes

#45

Post by tapanjk »

micheljansen wrote: post #12

Warning: this book leaves some permanent imprints in your mind that will forever cause you to be annoyed at badly designed doors and other things.

True that. I deal with this by applying the Robustness principle [1] where possible: "be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others." In other words, be forgiving of bad design while setting a high standard for what I do.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robustness_principle

Re: The Design of Everyday Things – Book Summary and Notes

#46

Post by cj »

christophilus wrote: post #41
wodenokoto wrote: post #15

This is definitely one of the books that has shaped my thinking the most. The book argues very strongly for functional design and design that makes usage obvious. “The way you use a thing should be encoded in the way the thing is, not in a manual”. I’ve been told there’s a follow up that concedes some of this and argues for emotional design. Something a long the lines of “this thing doesn’t need this handle, but it m…

> you slap on a $5 cover and never enjoy the premium materials and physical design It is ridiculous, I agree. I don’t use a case. I do have a thin screen protector. Anytime I handle anyone else’s phone, I think, “This is so clunky, and would barely fit in my pocket.”

"No case" worked for me for about 18 months. Now I'm forced to wear a case to keep the broken glass from cutting my fingers when picking up my phone (the back of the phone shattered but the front is perfectly fine with no screen protector). How / why the back of a phone would be made of a material that is essential glass is beyond me.

Re: The Design of Everyday Things – Book Summary and Notes

#48

Post by readthenotes1 »

atoav wrote: post #5
smusamashah wrote: post #2

For me one lesson was that when we fail to properly use a thing we should blame that thing for its bad design instead of ourselves. Another was that obviousness of a feature is how that thing will be used. You don't want people placing stuff on top of walls, don't make them flat.

> For me one lesson was that when we fail to properly use a thing we should blame that thing for its bad design instead of ourselves. I think this is a bit too easy. After all it depends on what problem the thing is solving. E.g. if I think of lab test equipment you failing to use it properly might have nothing to do with the design and everything to do with you not having sufficient knowledge in the given domain. I…

I feel you are re-emphasizing the validity of the point.

It should not be easy to use things wrongly, with more secret knowledge needed to use things that are more dangerous or require more skill than things that will do no harm when used wrongly.

In other words, your lab equipment should be fool-proofed so that if I walked into the lab and try to use it, I might get it loud buzzing sound a emoji of a sad face.

I am not the first to believe this. "Poka yoke" is a manufacturing term for a reason.

Re: The Design of Everyday Things – Book Summary and Notes

#49

Post by cainxinth »

VieEnCode wrote: post #42
rwmj wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to work for a mortgage broker, and there was a "Best Mortgage Broker of 200x Award" that basically rotated each year around the participating companies.

I strongly suspect that many awards in the legal industry work in this way also.

Every single industry that exists gives itself awards. Usually one or two are actually legit and prestigious, but there are often dozens (or hundreds) more of decreasing relevance that exist purely for marketing purposes, and many of those are pay to play (usually indirectly though, i.e., buy ad space or a booth from the awarding org and they’ll give you an award commensurate with your purchase.)

Re: The Design of Everyday Things – Book Summary and Notes

#50

Post by jkestner »

wodenokoto wrote: post #15

This is definitely one of the books that has shaped my thinking the most. The book argues very strongly for functional design and design that makes usage obvious. “The way you use a thing should be encoded in the way the thing is, not in a manual”. I’ve been told there’s a follow up that concedes some of this and argues for emotional design. Something a long the lines of “this thing doesn’t need this handle, but it m…

> I’ve been told there’s a follow up that concedes some of this and argues for emotional design.

Another excellent short book on evoking emotions in design is The Ice Palace That Melted Away, by Bill Stumpf (designer of the Aeron chair). Compares flying in a Boeing to a biplane, and other sensory experiences in design.

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