Readings for 3/12
Design of Everyday Things
CHAPTER 5
I was relieved to know that once I got to the end of the chapter that the Author admitted that there are accidents that do occur directly due to human activity. There are times when people have directly malicious intent in their actions, so those actions should indeed not go unpunished.
Human error is not the error of the human. It is an error in the design of the tool/object they are using. Humans are much more fluid than rigid machines. If something has many similar steps or various modes, one can expect slips or mistakes to occur if the design is poor. There are many examples that express this idea.
Slips are less severe than mistakes because they are easier to detect. Mistakes, however, might go undetected for too long, and possibly fatal consequences could ensue. The important thing to remember about mistakes and slips is that they critically reflect on elements of your design. If your design causes injury, you should desperately try to re-evaluate so that nobody else gets hurt.
There are many ways that we can design checks and balances to keep the user engaged and prevent slips and mistakes.
First, it is critical to try and think about [ossible errors that could be made while one is interacting with your design. Mistakes and slips are situational, so you must predict the situations your user is going to engage with your device in. For example, if you close a window, you should have a popup that changes depending upon the situation. If a user has multiple tabs, you can ask “do you wish to close all tabs?” If a user is working on a document, you can ask “Would you like to save before closing?”
Another way to design out error is to create a detailed checklist for your user. This is vital if a singular device has many modes. Too many modes can create confusion, and if a user believes they are in one mode when they are in fact in another, they could get hurt. Checklists can allow your user to better keep track of which step they are in.
Devices with repetitive start-up steps can be cause for memory-based slips. You must consider how to make your device less repetitive. Humans are creative and respond more alertly to the novel. This means if you can create a routine that is consistent yet variable, people will be more alert when using your device.
When I was growing up, I responded better to punishment for slips and mistakes. Sure I have horrible self-esteem now and think that I never am able to perform any task competently, but I think that fear drives me to try and engage in the world without fault. I can see why the author argues that this isn’t particularly ideal. Stress is the cause of many slips and mistakes. If we blame employees for design failures, everybody will feel too pressured to be perfect, and being perfect leads to stress, which leads to this endless cycle. I do not see everyone adopting this mindset anytime soon though.
QUESTIONS ABOUT CHAPTER 5
Considering Project 1 is intended to purposefully confuse the user, will we be invoking feelings of helplessness and make them believe the device is not working because of their own fault?
Without error reporting, we would not know how to improve our devices. Although there are solutions like NASA’s semi-anonymous flight error report system, our culture is so ready to severely punish simple mistakes. How could we reverse these heavy cultural conventions for the sake of everyone being able to learn and grow?
CHAPTER 6:
I’m going, to be honest for a moment. When I was seeking out New Media as a major to transfer to, I was told that I was going to be able to explore art, music, graphic design and technology all at once. I was not aware of the fact that there is such a divide as to what New Media means, even within just this small department here at UMaine.
In this class, design intimidates me. It is a much more complex problem than what I initially felt it would be. In some classes here, I get told I have a great natural talent for design. At my home town, I get told I have a great natural talent for design. But in the context of this book, I have no skills in design whatsoever. I believed that I did not have the mindset of an engineer, so I left engineering. However I apparently still very much have the mindset of an engineer, because I still focus on solving singular problems one at a time instead of solving the root cause for problems.
Human-centered design is a concept that you’d think you could understand just based on the words themselves. However, it is much deeper than that. There are systems within systems, concepts within concepts. Designers have to do research and a lot of self-discovery in order to solve the problems they are tasked with. This method of discovering the right problem and the right solution can be presented in the double-diamond model of design. You must branch out and explore alternatives until you can converge to conclusions. This is why it takes designers a lot longer to solve problems than engineers. Within this diamond, you cycle through the four activities of human-centered design. You need to observe to understand the problem, you need to generate ideas, prototype, and then test.
You repeat these processes over and over again until you reach a finalized product, but then you have to take feedback and possibly begin the cycle all over again.
The activity-centered design is an extension of Human-centered design. All humans enjoy performing activities, but not necessarily individual tasks. It is our job as designers to create devices that seamlessly have tasks move together so that the users can focus on the overall activity rather than the individual tasks of that activity.
Of course, all these qualities of Human-centered design express merely an ideal. We have to somewhere bridge these concepts with practice, and in practice, you still need to think from marketing perspectives in order to have a successful product. A solution is for companies to always have design teams in the field, exploring the world and thinking of problems to solve.
I came to New Media because I was held under the impression that I was going to have fun here, be able to choose my own path, and build the skills that I want to. I was very interested in this model of self-sufficiency because I enjoy learning what I want to learn, and do not care for much of anything else. However, this major does not follow this model at all. I have not been able to study what I wish to at all, and all my time is occupied with information that I couldn’t care less for.
QUESTIONS ABOUT CHAPTER 6:
When does a designer know that a product is truly complete if they spend so much time re-iterating the four steps of human-centered design?
If most corporations do not wish to give designers the time and funding to follow the design process, why even learn all of this in the first place?
CHAPTER 5
I was relieved to know that once I got to the end of the chapter that the Author admitted that there are accidents that do occur directly due to human activity. There are times when people have directly malicious intent in their actions, so those actions should indeed not go unpunished.
Human error is not the error of the human. It is an error in the design of the tool/object they are using. Humans are much more fluid than rigid machines. If something has many similar steps or various modes, one can expect slips or mistakes to occur if the design is poor. There are many examples that express this idea.
Slips are less severe than mistakes because they are easier to detect. Mistakes, however, might go undetected for too long, and possibly fatal consequences could ensue. The important thing to remember about mistakes and slips is that they critically reflect on elements of your design. If your design causes injury, you should desperately try to re-evaluate so that nobody else gets hurt.
There are many ways that we can design checks and balances to keep the user engaged and prevent slips and mistakes.
First, it is critical to try and think about [ossible errors that could be made while one is interacting with your design. Mistakes and slips are situational, so you must predict the situations your user is going to engage with your device in. For example, if you close a window, you should have a popup that changes depending upon the situation. If a user has multiple tabs, you can ask “do you wish to close all tabs?” If a user is working on a document, you can ask “Would you like to save before closing?”
Another way to design out error is to create a detailed checklist for your user. This is vital if a singular device has many modes. Too many modes can create confusion, and if a user believes they are in one mode when they are in fact in another, they could get hurt. Checklists can allow your user to better keep track of which step they are in.
Devices with repetitive start-up steps can be cause for memory-based slips. You must consider how to make your device less repetitive. Humans are creative and respond more alertly to the novel. This means if you can create a routine that is consistent yet variable, people will be more alert when using your device.
When I was growing up, I responded better to punishment for slips and mistakes. Sure I have horrible self-esteem now and think that I never am able to perform any task competently, but I think that fear drives me to try and engage in the world without fault. I can see why the author argues that this isn’t particularly ideal. Stress is the cause of many slips and mistakes. If we blame employees for design failures, everybody will feel too pressured to be perfect, and being perfect leads to stress, which leads to this endless cycle. I do not see everyone adopting this mindset anytime soon though.
QUESTIONS ABOUT CHAPTER 5
Considering Project 1 is intended to purposefully confuse the user, will we be invoking feelings of helplessness and make them believe the device is not working because of their own fault?
Without error reporting, we would not know how to improve our devices. Although there are solutions like NASA’s semi-anonymous flight error report system, our culture is so ready to severely punish simple mistakes. How could we reverse these heavy cultural conventions for the sake of everyone being able to learn and grow?
CHAPTER 6:
I’m going, to be honest for a moment. When I was seeking out New Media as a major to transfer to, I was told that I was going to be able to explore art, music, graphic design and technology all at once. I was not aware of the fact that there is such a divide as to what New Media means, even within just this small department here at UMaine.
In this class, design intimidates me. It is a much more complex problem than what I initially felt it would be. In some classes here, I get told I have a great natural talent for design. At my home town, I get told I have a great natural talent for design. But in the context of this book, I have no skills in design whatsoever. I believed that I did not have the mindset of an engineer, so I left engineering. However I apparently still very much have the mindset of an engineer, because I still focus on solving singular problems one at a time instead of solving the root cause for problems.
Human-centered design is a concept that you’d think you could understand just based on the words themselves. However, it is much deeper than that. There are systems within systems, concepts within concepts. Designers have to do research and a lot of self-discovery in order to solve the problems they are tasked with. This method of discovering the right problem and the right solution can be presented in the double-diamond model of design. You must branch out and explore alternatives until you can converge to conclusions. This is why it takes designers a lot longer to solve problems than engineers. Within this diamond, you cycle through the four activities of human-centered design. You need to observe to understand the problem, you need to generate ideas, prototype, and then test.
You repeat these processes over and over again until you reach a finalized product, but then you have to take feedback and possibly begin the cycle all over again.
The activity-centered design is an extension of Human-centered design. All humans enjoy performing activities, but not necessarily individual tasks. It is our job as designers to create devices that seamlessly have tasks move together so that the users can focus on the overall activity rather than the individual tasks of that activity.
Of course, all these qualities of Human-centered design express merely an ideal. We have to somewhere bridge these concepts with practice, and in practice, you still need to think from marketing perspectives in order to have a successful product. A solution is for companies to always have design teams in the field, exploring the world and thinking of problems to solve.
I came to New Media because I was held under the impression that I was going to have fun here, be able to choose my own path, and build the skills that I want to. I was very interested in this model of self-sufficiency because I enjoy learning what I want to learn, and do not care for much of anything else. However, this major does not follow this model at all. I have not been able to study what I wish to at all, and all my time is occupied with information that I couldn’t care less for.
QUESTIONS ABOUT CHAPTER 6:
When does a designer know that a product is truly complete if they spend so much time re-iterating the four steps of human-centered design?
If most corporations do not wish to give designers the time and funding to follow the design process, why even learn all of this in the first place?
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