Design of Everyday Things

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Design of Everyday Things

• Don Norman on Design HCI

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Agenda

• Discuss Normans views on HCI design

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Summary
Darn these hooves! I hit the wrong switch
again! Who designs these instrument Panels,
raccoon?!
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Don Norman

• Professor at Northwestern and Principle of
  Nielsen Norman group
• Previously Professor at UCSD, at Apple, HP, etc.

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Discussion

• What did you take away from DOET book?

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Daily Challenges

• How many of you can use all the functionality in
  your
• VCR
• Digital watch
• Copy machine
• Stereo system
• Plumbing fixtures

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Fun Examples

• Leitz slide projector
• To move forward, short press
• To move backward, long press
• What happens when you get frustrated?

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Fun Examples
Doors
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Fun Examples
Phones
How do you - transfer a call - change volume -
store a number - ...
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(No Transcript)
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Changing Ringer Volume

• Press Program
• Press 6
• Set volume
• Low - Press 1
• Medium - Press 2
• High - Press 3
• Press Program

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Important Concepts

• Affordances
• Visibility
• Conceptual models
• Natural mapping
• Feedback
• Constraints

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Affordance

• What is it?

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Visual Affordances

• Perceived and actual fundamental properties of an
  object that determine how it could be used
• Chair is for sitting
• Ball is for throwing
• Button is for pushing

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Yikes!
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Mantra

• Complex things may need explanation, but simple
  things should not
• If a simple thing requires instructions and
  pictures, it is likely a failed design

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Designing for People

• Normans 2 main principles
• Provide a good conceptual model
• Make things visible

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Conceptual Model

• What does Norman mean by that?

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Conceptual Models

• People build their own systems of how things work
• Example - car
• Designer can help user foster an appropriate
  conceptual model
• Appearance, instructions, behavior...

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Visibility

• When functionality is hidden, problems in use
  occur
• Occurs when number of functions is greater than
  number of controls
• When capabilities are visible, it does not
  require memory of how to use
• Remind person how to use something

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Simple Example
Electric plugs
What if both sides were big and you had
to remember which side the small one went into?
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Simple Example

• Bathroom faucets
• Two functions
• Hot/cold
• Pressure

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Bathroom Faucets 1
Can you figure out how to use it? Are two
functions clear and independent?
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Bathroom Faucets 2
Can you figure out how to use it? Are two
functions clear and independent?
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Bathroom Faucets 3
Can you figure out how to use it? Are two
functions clear and independent?
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Two Important Principles

• Mapping
• Feedback

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Mapping

• What does this mean?

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Mapping

• Relationship between two objects, here, between
  control and action/result
• Good
• Car, various driving controls
• Mercedes Benz seat adjustment example
• Bad
• Car stereo - Knob for front/back speakers

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Mapping Example Euros

• Sizevalue

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Mapping Example Stove
Whichcontrolswhich?
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Yikes!
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Why Not Design Better

• Stove
• Speakers

Physical, monetary, convenience,
etc., constraints dictate otherwise
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Feedback

• Let someone know what just occurred
• Can be sound thats made
• Can be change in physical state

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Constraints

• Limitations on what can be done
• Physical - keys
• Semantic - menu graying
• Cultural - Colors- red/green
• Logical - When all above dont apply

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Individual Differences

• Whom do you design for?
• Everyone? Impossible
• Average? Excluding half audience
• 95? Still may miss a lot
• Cant accommodate everyone

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Individual Differences

• Designers are not representative of the user
  population for whom they are designing
• Dont expect users to think or act like you
• People vary in both physical attributes and
  mental/cognitive attributes

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Example
Scissors
Affordances - Insert something into
holes Constraints - Bigger hole for several
fingers, small for thumb Mapping - How to insert
fingers into holes suggested by
visible appearance Conceptual model - Suggested
by how parts fit together and move
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Why Design is Hard

• Number of things to control has increased
  dramatically
• Displays are more virtual/artificial
• Marketplace pressure
• Adding operations cheaper (computers)
• Adding controls expensive (real estate, cost)
• Errors are becoming increasingly serious

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Try and Try Again

• Norman thinks that it often takes 5 or 6 tries to
  get something right
• Simply may not have that luxury in a competitive
  business environment

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Homework Find a Bad Design

• Over the next couple days, carefully observe
  objects or devices in your surroundings and find
  one that you feel has a design flaw. Observe how
  people interact with it and what occurs. (Avoid
  computer interfaces for this assignment.)
• What you should turn in
• A description of the object or device, ideally
  with a picture or drawing to help describe it.
• A description of the breakdown or problem with
  the device. Describe the difficulties that it is
  helping to generate.
• A characterization of the root of the problem.
  What is the design flaw or flaws? Use your
  reading of DOET to help you articulate a more
  formal characterization of what the breakdown is
  and why it's occurring.
• A suggestion or idea of how the design flaw might
  be fixed. What principles does your suggestion
  follow?
• For each of the last three items, you should
  write at most a paragraph so that your whole
  assignment fits on one piece of paper to be
  turned in.

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IRB Approval

• IRB meetings are held on the 3rd Friday of each
  month unless announced otherwise. This calendar
  is for protocols requiring full board review.
  Protocols that fall into the exempt and expedited
  categories are accepted any time and are reviewed
  as they are received. Review of these generally
  is completed within two weeks.

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IRB Approval

• Some typical examples of Exempt research
• Anonymous surveys
• Educational tests
• Data studies using publicly available information
  
• Observation of public behavior that does not put
  the subject at risk
• Taste and food quality evaluation
• Some common examples of Expedited research
• Studies of existing data that include subject
  identifiers
• Linguistic/ethnographic studies
• Collection of data through noninvasive procedures
  
• Research on individual or group characteristics
  or behavior
• Research employing survey, interview oral
  history, focus group, program evaluation, human
  factors evaluation, or quality assurance
  methodologies
• Some common examples of research reviewed at the
  Full review level
• Studies that include children as subjects or
  participants
• Studies that include institutionalized persons
  (e.g., prisoners)
• Studies that include persons with limited mental
  capacity (e.g., persons with severe mental
  disabilities)
• Studies that cover sensitive topics (e.g.,
  criminal behavior, sexuality or domestic abuse)

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Next on the Menu

• Design (general)
• Read ch. 5