The Psychology of Everyday things

Comment 1.

While reading this, I was reminded a lot of another class I have taken called “Wayfinding” with Professor Goffredo Puccetti. In this course, we walked around our university’s campus and looked at some aspects of the design that were confusing, or even potentially dangerous.

One of the most common problems on campus is that people walk on the grass instead of the pathway; this I think ties into what Don Norman was saying about Human Centered Design. People will want to walk the shortest distance possible to get to their destination, and so that should be taken into consideration when laying out pathways.

This concept specifically stood out to me because it is so prevalent where I live.

Comment 2.

This reading covered a lot of interesting/useful things a designer should keep in mind. From affordances and signifiers to the amount and delivery of feedback; these are all aspects that should be considered in designing lots of things, not just concrete objects.

I like specifically how he mentions things like furniture layout are a part of design, because this is not something people think of when they hear “design”.

This ties back to my Wayfinding class which focused on the ease of navigation and understandability of a space. This too, is design, as it is an umbrella that encompasses a plethora of practices.

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