The psychology of everyday things

The Psychology of Everyday Things
By Donald A. Norman
Chapter 1

• Many objects in daily life are impractical and confusing to use.
• The person who uses a device needs the important controls to be visible and clearly labeled
• Psychology of Everyday Things- understanding how things in everyday life work
• Psychology of materials- study of the properties and use of everyday objects
• Sometimes manufacturers add in certain features that they believe will be helpful, but due to  confusion this can end in frustration rather than benefit
• Objects make more sense when their is a relationaship between controls.  Objects with these relationships are easier to use because people can understand what should be done to work it.
• affordance- properties and possible uses of things

In this chapter, the author is explaining that in order to make devices eay to use, the important controls and functions must be expressed clearly and visibily.  The author proves this by showing that on certain types of doors where hinges are not clearly shown, people have trouble opening them.  He also shows that there are many types of buttons on a phone that no one understands.  Finally, he shows that it was easier to operate his car than his phone because there was more visibility and clearness in the structure.  This is like how I always have trouble operating computers because I can't make sense of the keyboards and applications.