Foundations of HCI and Usability Engineering

Some of the important aspects of a good design is affordance. Different materials have different natural affordance, and this should be reflected in a good design. Designers should also define the representative user of the system, who not necessary can be a typical user. HCI dictates how a system reacts to user input and how information is gathered.
During the software Life cycle some standard HCI should be applied. The process falls into eight categories beginning with the knowing the user, who they are and what they are trying to achieve. Also relevant stakeholders and their goals should be noted. Often questioners can be used to obtain user ideas about the system with identified strengths and weaknesses. Another aspect is to decide on general approach and look into past conventions. The designer have to have a clear understanding of what user expectations are from the system, how it is going to work, and look. This will also apply to interaction design and interface design.

Thoughts on The Design of Everyday Things. Chapter 1-3.

While reading Norman’s book, The Design of Everyday Things, I started recalling my own frustration with everyday things and how they work or simply do not.

Last week when I was waiting with my daughter to see her doctor I watched frustrated older lady who was trying to open a bag of chips. She was trying to tear each corner of the bag, as finally she gave up and used her car key to make a hole in the bag to reach some chips. This is just a very simple example of how packages are often poorly designed, and often require the use of scissors.

One of the most important aspects of any design is visibility. By making certain elements able to be seen, the user can follow the path, read various signals and make the right decision. My own frustration usually shows when I’m using the remote control and I’m switching a TV to a DVD player. I have to use two different remote controls, remember what buttons to push and often at the end still ask for help. And even if I consider myself being technologically savvy, some products create lots of frustration and quite a challenge.

In the Psychology of Everyday Action, Norman explains how we often misinterpret signals and make decisions based on our mental model how things work, or how people behave. In many cases our interpretations are based on bias, incomplete information or information distorted over the time.

I enjoyed reading the third chapter where Norman is talking about memory. I can recall my own irritation on trying to enter the password that wouldn’t work. At the end I would decide on using just two different passwords for all my websites and accounts. Still, some of them I would store in the notebook for future reference. After a long vacation I would not remember all special passwords and codes I use at work.
A few years ago I decided not to memorize cell phone numbers of my family. After having so many numbers to remember I began filtering the importance and the relevance of the information. I realized that this information didn’t have any value to me and in most cases was retrievable from my own cell phone.