I am really loving The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman right now. The book is making me think that taking some sort of behavioral psychology class might be a good idea for improving my ability and intuition as a designer. In chapters 3 and 4, Norman discussed knowledge, memory, constraints and mapping in relation to tasks and objects that we encounter on a daily basis. There were many things in these two chapters that stood out to me, the first of which was the problem with learning through rote memorization. Learning information in school, or learning how to use a product through rote memorization affords the user no reason or explanation for particular actions. With no reason for an action, the user has no understanding of what to fix or adjust if a problem arises. Although I am still not entirely sure how this will play into my responsibilities as a designer, it seems very important to keep at the forefront, particularly where education might be concerned.
Norman's discussion of natural mapping and the four types of constraints (physcial, semantic, cultural, and logical) was fascinating. His discussion of doors, stoves, and light switches made me realize that I have experienced every one of these frustrations in my life. I have lived in 10 different places so far in my adult life, which means that I've used at least 10 different stoves and dealt with 10 different combinations of light switches. All of the stoves had labels for the burner controls. I can't begin to count the number of times I have flipped the wrong light or fan switch because I "forgot" which switch controls which device. Just by reading these two chapters, I will now think about the way natural mapping and constraints have been exploited or destroyed by a design.
While Norman's writing makes me consider how I can be more observant to improve my design, chapter 4 of Tom Kelley's The Art of Innovation had me thinking about leadership. Being able to participate in a great "brainstormer" is one thing, but I think a designer needs to develop the skills to facilitate a great brainstorm. That being said, Kelley's fourth secret in Seven Secrets for Better Brainstorming seems to be the most difficult, yet most important to master: Build And Jump. I think this would be a skill that could actually be practiced though. By having a peer develop a few pre-scripted brainstorms that fizzle at some point, the facilitator-to-be could practice that skill of building and/or jumping in an effort to reinvigorate the session. Maybe this should be an exercise that we build into a class? Just a thought.
BUG LIST
Had I read Norman's two chapters earlier in the week, I might have developed a more robust list of items and tasks that bug me. As usual, I found myself going through the week at break-neck speed and not stopping to observe and contemplate as often as I should have to create a really nice list. Here are a few thoughts that I did have this week however.
1. I never have a camera handy when I run. ( I have a little point and shoot, but it's still too clunky to take on a run. I don't take a phone on runs, and typically don't take an mp3 player either.) I constantly see interesting things when I'm out running on both trails and the road.
2. Most measuring spoons won't fit down inside store-bought spice and seasoning bottles. I bake a lot, and because I am impatient, I typically remove the "cap" that has small holes for sprinkling or a larger opening for pouring so that I can pour faster straight from the bottle. Also because I am impatient, I usually over shoot and spill said spice into my mixture of ingredients with no good way of retrieving it. Then I just have to guess how much more of the spoon's contents I need and return the rest to the bottle.
3. My driver's license gets stuck in the clear window pocket of my wallet and I break fingernails and get frustrated when trying to fish it out.
4. When I remove the lint trap in the dryer to clean it, a fine "mist" of lint goes everywhere! The screen scrapes against the edge of it's special little compartment, sending a cloud of lint all over the floor in front of the dryer. My old dryer had a lint trap on top that was really long and fit into it's compartment quite snugly. It created an even larger mess when removing. I had to wipe down the top of the dryer each time and hold my breath while I was removing the lint trap.
5. I get tired of having to scoop two bowls of dog food out of the stinky dog food bag morning and evening. Self-feeding bowls are nice, but the dogs could keep eating from these continuously if they wanted.
I know there are A LOT more things that bug me that I'm just now slowing down enough to appreciate, so I'm sure this list will continue to grow.
I'm glad you are finding DOET to be so interesting. That's an interesting idea you have about practicing "Build and Jump". A scripted brainstorm, however, seems self-defeating. I think Tom would prefer you to practice brainstorming (all of it) by participating in real ones on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty short bug list. I'd like to see one at least twice that long. "Go for quantity."