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SED 618
Donald Norman’s Design of Everyday Things
1. Everyday things are tangible objects that have a function or a purpose. Everyday
things consist of objects with knobs, dials, controls and switches, lights, buttons, and
meters to name a few. I think a harder question is what is not an everyday thing?
Everyday things have constraints. Constraints are limitations put on the everyday thing
due to its size, shape, form, or other physical feature. A good example of a constraint
used by Mr. Norman is the finger holes on a pair of scissors. Due to the size of the holes
there is a constraint. Only some fingers will fit in the holes due to the physical size of
them. Some examples of everyday things include paper clips, bookmarks, magazines, and
pads of paper. Pads of paper have constraints due to the width of the paper. Paper clips
are constrained by the length and width of the material.
2. According to Mr. Norman (pg 9), “Affordances refers to the perceived and actual
properties of something, primarily those fundamental properties that determine just how
the thing could possibly be used.” Affordances also gives hints to how to operate an
object as well. Take for instance a chair, a chair if for support and thus allows sitting,
however a chair can also be carried. Another example is glass. Glass can be transparent
and also be shattered, so when British officials put glass on a train car, vandals smashed
it. But when they put wood to replace the glass the vandals only wrote or etched in the
wood instead of smashing it. See, glass affords to be smashed and cracked, and that’s
exactly what the vandals did, wood on the other had is opaque and affords to be scratched
and “tagged” on. Due to affordances you can make decisions on what materials or
objects should be used dealing with certain situations.
3. Mapping is the relationship between two different things. In terms of mapping and
everyday things mapping is related to knobs, buttons, levers, or any other kind of control
device and it’s relation to functionality. One example used in the text is the function of
steering a car and the steering wheel. To steer a car to the right you must turn the
steering wheel clockwise. This principle of mapping is natural and logical and thus
effective. One’s natural instinct to go right in a car would be to turn the steering wheel to
the right. The relationship between the car moving right when the steering wheel is
pulled clockwise is an example of natural mapping. Another example of mapping is the
relationship between the loud speakers in a car and the controls for them on the stereo
deck. If you wanted to move the sound only to the front speakers good mapping would
have the controls slide upward and if you wanted the speakers only to be in the back you
should shift the lever down. When controls are logical and have one function it is noted
that the mapping is well designed, compared to a digital stopwatch with 4 buttons
representing 12 functions.
4. A well-designed computer in relation to affordances, mapping, and constraints needs
to be user friendly. First off the computer must have clearly labeled buttons that are
«GreetingLine»
SED 618
limited to a single function (for the most part). A PC mouse is a good example, it has 2
buttons to click, a left and a right each having its distinct function. The computer will be
constrained by the number of USB and Firewire inputs so be sure to put at least 2 or 3
inputs for each. If you only have one input you will only be able to plug in one external
piece of hardware which is extremely limiting. Bluetooth technology has cut out the
constraint of the length of wires of the mouse and keyboard. In my classroom I use a
Bluetooth keyboard and mouse which enable me to use the computer while moving
around in the class. Last but not least I would have the computer come preinstalled with
MS Office along with audio, video, and graphic editing/storage software. The computer
is primarily used for these functions and the user should be afforded the software ready to
use. If the computer is lacking basic software it is incomplete.