Relating Norman's Ideas to Products

1) Page 25- “A good principle, that. Controls are where they ought to be. One function, one control. Harder to do, of course, than to say, but essentially this is the principle of natural mappings: the relationship between controls and actions should be apparent to the user. I return to this topic later in the book, for the problem of determining the “naturalness” of mappings is difficult, but crucial.”
This passage comes after talking about the German tour bus and just before talking about the fade control on the car stereo. In the tour bus situation the controls made sense; each button did what was natural. The car situation, on the other hand was a failure in design; the fade button, which controls music front to back, in fact turned left to right, thus making the action unnatural and unpredictable.
I felt the idea of “naturalness” was a very important topic in this chapter as well as in all design. When the users action naturally corresponds with the devices action it just makes sense. A door with a handle is meant to be pulled and turning a steering wheel to the right turns the wheels right. In the end, it is my opinion that making a design natural is the most crucial part of the design process. If a design is natural it is naturally easy to use and understand.
2) This book continues to be influential because it focuses on the basics of design. Sure Norman did not have today’s technology but the basis behind all design is the same. Visually obvious and natural are the key to the success of any product. Norman’s thoughts on the design of the floppy disc directly compare to the design of a camera’s memory card, maybe the credit card companies should consider this too. Overall, Norman’s book focuses on the most basic, fundamental elements of design, those that any product must contain in order to be successful.
3) Factors to include on design checklist:
Naturalness
Visual Cues
Feedback
Easily and obviously mapped
Controls relate to user’s expected knowledge
Limited improper affordances
Good conceptual model
Doesn’t fall victim to Paradox of Technology (or at least as little as possible)