Chapter 7: “The Design of Everyday Things” by Don Norman
Summary and Review of DESIGN IN THE WORLD OF BUSINESS
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Chapter 1: THE PSYCHOPATHOLOGY OF EVERYDAY THINGS
Chapter 2: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF EVERYDAY THINGS
Chapter 3: KNOWLEDGE IN THE HEAD AND IN THE WORLD
Chapter 4: KNOWING WHAT TO DO: CONSTRAINTS, DISCOVERABILITY, AND FEEDBACK
Chapter 5: HUMAN ERROR? NO, BAD DESIGN
Chapter 6: DESIGN THINKING
Chapter 7: DESIGN IN THE WORLD OF BUSINESS
Hi & welcome! Thanks for joining in on my journey through “The Design of Everyday Things,” by Don Norman. This series summarizes and reviews each chapter, highlighting important takeaways and asking questions about the content.
This is the last chapter! Don Norman has a long list of other books to explore. “Emotional Design” is probably my next stop.
In this chapter we’ll cover the influences that often overshadow design in the world of business like competition (which can lead to “featuritis”). Don discusses new technology and its effect on change, the length of time it takes for products to be accepted by the majority of people, incremental and radical change, design principles in the face of change, and whole section on books, and a send off of empowerment.
Section 1: Competitive Forces
- price —what are competitor prices? Often the most important factor when purchasers come to call is price.
- features — have you ever seen a product that tries desperately to have all the features of its competitor (but ends up overly complicated and not cohesive?). Features are a huge competitive factor
- quality — your product has to be the same or just better quality than the competitor at your price point, right? (but not SO good, right? planned obsolescence has been going on for centuries)
- speed — You research, design, build, and launch a brand new product, only to learn your competitor *also* launched a similar product. You both were sipping on the zeitgeist.
Featuritis: A Deadly Temptation
The term is dated back to 1976, but the phenomenon likely existed before this date. You hear customers asking for features, competitors launching new features, new technologies emerging you think you must jump on to make your product cutting edge… but once these forces convince you to impulsively add the feature, once the excitement has waned and the feature is no longer shiny, you can’t remove it.
This is one rule I learned early on, never take something away from a product. It infuriates users.
So you’re left with a bloated product.
THOUGHTS: Is this is what happened to smart phones? If so, it doesn’t seem to be the worst thing; our phones are capable of so many things. So, that’s an interesting article for the future, I think.
A GEM: When you feel the urge to add a feature your competitor has, STOP. Research shows this isn’t always the ticket to success. The best business strategy is to focus where you are strongest, and make your distinguishing features better than anyone else. Don’t be like everyone else, make it so no one can do what you do better.
Section 2: New Technologies Force Change
As our technology advances, we’re exposed to more and more possibilities for innovation that changes many areas of our lives. But those areas: the need to eat, communicate, reproduce, socialize (only a few), will not change. Don Norman stresses this frequently: because human psychology will not change, he says the design principles he’s distilled from his career into this book will also not change.
Section 3: How Long Does It Take to Introduce a New Product?
Videophone: Conceived in 1879 — Still Not Here
The section’s heading is descriptive enough to summarize this portion: the videophone, in 2014, hadn’t really been figured out.
But we’re in post-COVID era now. Our world radically experienced the need to use video conferencing regularly from our homes. Rarely is there a computer without Zoom (or some approved video conferencing software). We have backgrounds, AR, lighting. Many of us have bought ring lights, new microphones. We’ve perfected a space to “Zoom” from that doesn’t have too much going on in the background. Some have perfected “video conferencing makeup” routines and (with reverse mirror settings showing imperfections) resorted to plastic surgery as a result of the insecurities video conferences surfaced.
Section 4: Two Forms of Innovation: Incremental and Radical
Which do you think is better?
hint: neither and both
Incremental Innovation
This is the most common form of innovation. Over time, the incremental improvements amount to radical change in hindsight, though. Incremental change makes radical innovations better. They are the perfecting mechanism: often polishing an object to it’s ideal design.
Radical Innovation
Groundbreaking innovation isn’t common. It creates new markets, changes daily lives, and shifts how we think about navigating the world. We need radical innovation to create new areas to incrementally improve.
Section 5: The Design of Everyday Things 1988–2038
“Fundamental needs will stay the same, even if they get satisfied in radically different ways.” — Don Norman
As Technologies Change, Will People Stay the Same?
We’re entering an age where discussion of cyborg technology, where human and machine become one, isn’t the basis for a science-fiction novel. Memory, muscle, and problem-solving can all be enhanced by the use of technology.
How will this affect human culture? Don Norman says our culture will inevitably change as the convergence of machine and man continues.
Things That Make Us Smart
This is a book Don’s written, too, not just a section.
There’s a fear we’ve all experienced: the use of technology might make us weaker. As we use our phones to remember everything for us, as we become calculator dependent, and as we go to the store for food, we lose the ability to do certain things on our own. We become dependent. We can longer hunt, grow food, or make clothing. We can’t remember long passages or do arithmetic in our heads.
But Don questions this fear. He sees human intelligence as simply being freed up to do more.
THOUGHTS: I think with the encroaching efforts of companies to exploit human heuristics, we have been negatively impacted by technology. Of course, it’s not the technology itself, but the use of the technology that takes away, sometimes against our better judgement, our attention spans. Technology may free our intellect up to do more, but what if that extra intellect is squandered death scrolling through social media feeds?
Or perhaps this is just another expression of the age old fear. Maybe our endless scrolling and polarized viewpoints that result from algorithms designed to show you want you want, will lead to something better. I can’t see what that is, but the optimistic among you might?
Section 6: The Future of Books
“The advent of new technologies is making books, interactive media, and all sorts of educational and recreational material more effective and pleasurable.” — Don Norman
My immediate thought, after this quote, is the application TikTok. It’s an addictive joy to use, and if you’ve liked the right material, your “for you page” can be delightfully filled with educational tidbits from around the world. Of course, there’s the dark side to it as well.
The mix and advancement of technologies produce methods for easy content creation like TikTok or YouTube or even Medium. But what it doesn’t provide is the way for amatuer content to be separated from professional content. Where facts have been triple checked, artistry honed and perfected. This is an interesting insight in a post-Trump world, where the facts of any situation are highly debated and often cast in a doubtful light making certainty difficult. More than ever we need “reliable” sources (and not just sources who claim reliability).
Section 7: The Moral Obligations of Design
Ah, my favorite. Morality & ethics.
This section lacks depth. There are so many areas to explore when it comes to the moral implications of design. If you’re interested in this topic, I’ve enjoyed “Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need” by Sasha Costanza-Chock.
Section 8: Design Thinking and Thinking About Design
“Designers need to make things that satisfy people’s needs, in term of function, in terms of being understandable and usable and in terms of their ability to deliver emotional satisfaction, pride, ad delight. In other words, the design must be thought of as a total experience.” — Don Norman
Designers must think about all the factors that contribute to a successful product. Not just aesthetics. Not just emotional appeal. Not just usability or understanding. We have to consider the market, competition, pricing. We have to include engineers, leadership, and marketing in our deliberations and design choices. We are the minds that shape the manifestation of an object. It’s no lofty task to be done well.
The Rise of the Small
I love this section because of it’s simple messaging: technology, especially well-designed technology, empowers the individual. The individual can produce or innovate all on their own thanks to small tools that facilitate great things.
As the World Changes, What Stays the Same?
“The design principles of the discoverability, of feedback, and of the power of affordances and signifiers, mapping, and conceptual models will always hold.” — Don Norman
Loud and clear.