Thoughts…

Two weeks into Network Media and we are diving into the more technical stuff. A lot of the things that we are learning links back to a man called Don Norman. He used his studies in psychology and electrical engineering to establish a link between people and an object. More of his work and findings can be found in this week’s readings. For instance, his book called ‘The Design of Everyday Things’ was quite heavy in content but it broadened my knowledge of affordances and when I thought of the videos of him played during the lectures, it made a lot more sense. Norman set out some principles for designers and engineers to follow as they can help people know what to do with the object. These principles are affordances and signifiers, conceptual methods and the seven stages of action. Well designed objects require little to none training in order to use them to its potential. You can even use them in ways that are not intended by the designer and this was demonstrated during a class activity I had with Elaine. She took out an object that could be determined as a jar or a water bottle and we had to identify which one it was and justify ourselves. One person mentioned how there was no neck to the object meaning if you drank from it, the possibility of it spilling could be higher since the standard bottle had longer necks to slow it down. Ultimately, thinking about the functionality of why the designer would incorporate that particular thing into the final product made me appreciate all the time an consideration undergone in an object.