While computer design has its own idiosyncrasies, we can learn a tremendous amount by looking at the design of everyday things. We start with bad design, which make us realize that the problems and errors people face when dealing with even simple technology are usually a result of design failure. We then move to understanding visual design principles that help us analyze bad design and create good designs.
- The Design of Everyday Things (Excerpt pp. 5-22), Norman, D. A. (1988) Basic Books.
- This is an excellent, entertaining and informed discussion of what comprises bad and good design in everyday objects. (Reprinted in Baecker Grudin Buxton and Greenberg). Buy this book! Its fabulous.
I often bring in a bag to class full of everyday things. The bag includes staplers, scissors, tape-dispensers, alarm clocks, digital watches, floppy disks, CD-cases, and anything else I find lying around my office. When the discussion turns to design components of everyday things (e.g., visual affordances, constraints, etc.), I consider how well the items in my bag work.
I also try to find a real odd-ball device that is not familiar to most students. Examples in the past included an apple peeler and corer (which looks like an implement a torturer would use!) and a co-ax wire stripper. I pass it around for students to try and figure out what it is. We then discuss what visual clues helped them understand its function.
I give students the exercise. They analyze a GUI design, articulate its problems, and suggest redesigns.