Do you push or pull the following door?

Norman Door Push or Pull?

If you said push, you may or may not be correct. If you said pull, you might be absolutely, positively right or wrong. There is only one way to find out which may result in you being the victor of entering portals to buildings or embarrassing yourself in public because you do not know how to properly open a door by now.

Whether or not you open the door correctly, it isn’t your fault if you don’t. In fact, many of us continue to get this “wrong” but this is not our fault. In public, there are signs that help us navigate our way around certain areas. Some of these signs are printed on doors instructing us how to operate them. Some of these doors are designed so poorly that they instruct people to do the opposite of what is necessary to open a door. At an old candy shop in NYC, they had a huge plastic gumdrop for a handle and the sign above instructed people to pull it. Though I loved the candy shop, others, along with myself, would struggle to open the door if there was even a hint of humidity. As of today, that shop is closed and I would like to think it was because of that super annoying door.

These poorly designed doors were coined as “Norman Doors” by Don Norman, an American researcher and author of The Design of Everyday Things.

don norman design of every day things book cover

The design elements of these frustrating doors give you incorrect usability signals that some type of sign is needed to clarify how they are supposed to work properly. When these signs are absent, you are left feeling confused about whether or not you should push or pull the door to open it.

“When we interact with a product, we need to figure out how to work it. This means discovering what it does, how it works, and what operations are possible: discoverability.” ~ Don Norman

According to Norman, discoverability results in the use of four fundamental principles of interaction identified in the reading.

  • Affordances
  • Signifiers
  • Mappings
  • Feedback

Affordance

affordance buttons to buy now

Photo courtesy of Avadh Dwivedi via UX Collective.

The affordance of an object depends on the qualities of an object and the abilities of a person. If a website requires a person to purchase their product online but the individual cannot checkout due to their browser’s capabilities, then the affordance of purchasing the product is not available to them. Because the buyer did not see a way to purchase the product, the afforded actions may not be carried out. When someone is designing the user interfaces and experience of a website or application, designers can use suggestive signals to carry out the desired action for both parties. For example, an underlined text on a webpage signals to the observer that it is a hyperlink and can be clicked. Like this one.

Signifiers

Photo courtesy of Chris Smith via BGR.

Signifiers are signs that specify affordances. For example, the slide to unlock text on the screen of a smartphone indicates what should be done to use the device along with an arrow that indicates what direction to swipe in. When you swipe in the correct direction, the text illuminates letter by letter in the correct direction. While someone is on Facebook, there is an icon of a “thumbs-up” with the word “like” to the right of it. This signifier indicates that someone can “like” content that was shared on the social media site. 

Mapping

refresh gif

Photo courtesy of Michael B. Myers Jr. via Medium

Mapping indicates a relationship between two things. For example, when we are on our phones, swiping down refreshes a page or reveals more awesome content and swiping left deletes something. Mapping utilizes what the actions we instinctively take and applies towards online design. A real-world example of mapping can be seen on stovetops. Some stoves have the valves organized horizontally from left to right. This design is not good for functionality because most burners are not organized horizontally but rather 2 x 2 — two burners on the top and two burners on the bottom. Therefore, it is best to apply the 2 x 2 method to the valves in accordance with the appropriate burner. Two valves on the top and two valves on the bottom. This method makes for better mapping by clearly distinguishing the valve that controls each burner.

Feedback

Photo courtesy of Adhrian Putravia Dribbble

Feedback helps us understand how to interact with objects or systems and the effects our actions have on them. If the feedback is too much, it can negatively impact our ability to operate the objects or systems efficiently. Online feedback has many faces. It can look like a pop-up message confirming that the data you entered on a website was successfully submitted or if there was an error in the submission process. Though online feedback encourages engagement, sometimes, it can interpose on the experience. Sometimes, these pop-up windows are promotions to purchase products, sign up to receive newsletters, chat with customer service or fill out a questionnaire. Though these pop-ups may serve to be helpful, they can reduce someone’s desire to engage further with the site or product.

Our world is full of competition, winners, losers and those who rest somewhere in the middle. The people who determine who wins the game are those who use the products of the competitors. Having the coolest, brightest, fanciest features are nice but what has skin in the game is the usabilitity and the feelings individuals have while using the product or service. 

So the next time you encounter a “Norman Door”, might I suggest an alternative method? 

door kick attempt that failed

I didn’t guarantee that it would work.

 

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