Donald Norman
I read this book and found it very interesting. Norman spoke about design in a very unique way in which he spoke about it without actually having to talk about technology that much. The main thing I took from this book was the seven fundamental design principles that he mentioned. These were:
- Discoverability
- Feedback
- Conceptual model
- Affordances
- Signifiers
- Mappings
- Constraints
Discoverability
‘It is possible to determine what actions are possible and the current state of the device.’
The design of eveyday things – Don norman
This means whenever we engage with everyday things we figure out where and how to do certain functions. If there is good discoverability it means that we should be able to choose an option that should work the way we think it should and allow us to meet our goal.
To achieve good discoverability you need clear focal points, visual hierarchy and transparent navigation systems. When designs have bad discoverability it means that users must work harder to understand how everything works which could lead to them getting irritated at the website and not wanting to use it.
Feedback
‘There is full and continuous information about the results and actions and the current state of the product or service. After an action has been executed, it is easy to determine the new state’
The design of eveyday things – Don norman
This means that when we interact with something there needs to be feedback to show that whatever it was that was trying to be done haws been done. For example when you add something to your basket when you are online shopping and a big tick comes across the screen or something pops up in the corner of the page.
Feedback doesn’t need to be massive and in your face it can be subtle but it must be able to show the user what is happening and whether what they were trying to do has been achieved.
Conceptual model
‘The design projects all the information needed to create a good conceptual model of the system, leading to understanding and a feeling of control. The conceptual model enhances both discoverability and evaluation results.’
The design of eveyday things – Don norman
This means that there is a model that is followed so that the user know what to expect when using the website. For example, when you go onto a website and the experience shows how to use it. Some examples of conceptual models include instruction manuals that may be in things like packaging or some pop ups that may appear when you open a new app showing how you can use it.
When a conceptual model is unclear it goes against the idea that users have about how something should work. This can create a lot of confusion and irritate users, which could possibly cause them to use the website less and find other more accessible means to get to the result they want.
Affordances
‘The proper affordances exist to make the desired actions possible.’
The design of eveyday things – Don norman
Affordance is when people will guess what an object is supposed to do based on properties it might have. Affordances rely on knowledge in the head and cultural relevance and without these properties an objects action will be harder to perceive.
Signifiers
‘Effective use of signifiers ensures discoverability and that the feedback is well communicated and intelligible.’
The design of eveyday things – Don Norman
A signifier shows where an action should take place, for example a very obvious button on a website page so that users know where to go and what to use to achieve what they are aiming for. However, signifiers rely on cultural understanding for example, what one area might perceive as a button other places may perceive it as a dot on the page.
Mapping
‘The relationship between controls and their actions follows the principles of good mapping, enhanced as much as possible through spatial layout and temporal contiguity.’
The design of eveyday things – Don Norman
Mapping is the relationship between controls and their effect on the world. For example, when you scroll up on the volume bar and this causes the volume to also go up and when you scroll down the volume goes down. Natural mapping is subconscious changes that we make that will affect our word, for example, flipping a light switch for appropriate places. Unnatural mapping increases cognitive and physical effort again possibly affording users as they will have to put in effort that they may not have to somewhere else. So wherever natural mapping is impossible signifiers can help to make the action more obvious.
Constraints
‘Providing physical, logical, semantic, and cultural constraints guides actions and eases interpretation.’
The design of eveyday things – Don Norman
Constraints help restrict the amount of information that we need to process and therefore allow us to do less thinking and make whatever it is we are trying to do easier. There are different forms constraints, including physical, semantic, cultural, and logical. Each can help focus a persons attention on the task they are trying to do and help them reduce the chance of human error.
- Physical constraints – restrict possible operations such as not being able to move the mouse cursor outside the screen
- Semantic limitations – these are clues to where actions can be performed, for example a plug has meaning where we can to put the plug pins in
- Cultural restrictions – these are social conventions or the social norm, such as waiting in a queue to be served
- Logical constraints – these help determine the alternatives, for example, we know to scroll down on a page to show the rest of the page.
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