This first chapter of Don Norman’s, The Design of Everyday Things, introduces the psychological understanding of designs and the four fundamental principles of interaction as described by Norman. The functionality and appearance of a product depends on the type of designer making it: industrial, interaction, or experience. With each field focused on their own specifics, a good design will result from the collaboration of all fields. A poor design on the other hand could result from only one field creating a product with missing necessary elements provided by other fields. Discoverability and Understanding are two important distinct characteristics introduced and together can determine whether a design is good or bad. A good design will have natural signals, visible relevant components, that distinguish how a product is to be used with ease. Many of today’s designs have developed for aesthetics, for example trying to put less on an object. Designs with less signifiers or other fundamental factors may make operation difficult or slow the process of understanding. In my opinion, Human-centered design combines all areas of focus and should be considered in order to produce good designs. Since human-centered design ensures the designs match the needs and capabilities of those intended, it should factor in functionality, value, psychology, design, experience, and appearances all appropriate for those intended.

The 4 Fundamental Principles of Interaction:

Affordances:

Affordance addresses the relationship between a physical object and an interacting agent (e.g. a person). This relationship deals with the properties of an object and abilities of the interacting agent that determine how to use an object. A physical, real-world example of affordance might include curtains. Curtains afford sunlight coming in and out of a window. An interacting agent can manipulate the structure by drawing the curtains closed or pulling them open.

The camera app on the iPhone is a technical example of affordance. The camera app contains many capable features as long as the interacting agents knows which buttons to press to achieve which action. The camera app affords photography, video, recording, time-lapse, etc., and allows much user interaction in front and behind the camera.

Signifiers:

Signifiers are the signaling components of affordances. That is, while affordances determine what actions are achievable, signifiers communicate where the action needs to take place. A good design must have good communication of the purpose, structure, and operation of the object to those who want to use it; a signifier. A real-world example might include the sound of an elevator. Once an elevator has reached a floor, it will typically sound a *ding* to signify its arrival and that the doors will open momentarily. Though there are no handles on the doors, when people waiting for the elevator hear the *ding*, they prepare to get on the elevator, or stand back, when the doors slide open.

 

A mobile example of a signifier might include drop-down menu icons. These icons are found on many mobile-friendly websites and apps that ease navigation in an organized way. These drop-down menus are icons that many identify and familiarize themselves as the button to click when they want to go to another page or see what else the site has to offer.

Mapping:

Mapping deals with the relationship between the elements of two sets of variables. Good design will use visible controls and displays to exploit natural mappings, thereby simplifying the understanding of operation. A physical example might include the connection of HD AV or HDMI cables to a television. These cables have specific slots for each to go in on both ends and the specific wiring allows sound and picture coordination.

A website example of mapping includes the navigation menu. While stated before, the icon itself of a drop-down menu might constitute as a signifier, however the actions of the menu describe mapping. The navigation menu provides different actions based on different buttons, depending on which button the user clicks, they will be directed to that specific page as it has a specific URL attached.

Feedback:

Feedback is the communication of results from an action. Good design has immediate informative feedback. A physical, real-world example of feedback might include the iPhone’s dead-battery signifier. The iPhone’s dead-battery feedback is an example of a good design because it not only lets the user know the phone is dead, but it displays on the screen an action of plugging in the phone to charge it in order to solve the issue.

A website example of feedback can be found through Domino’s pizza website. On Domino’s website, after ordering a pizza, the website provides a tracker that shows stages at which your pizza is at in the process. This type of immediate feedback to the customer provides them with real-time anticipation and gives them a sense of knowledge about their pizza.