I Finished <The Design of Everyday Things>

Today I finished reading the book The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman, it’s a great introductory book for building my mental model as a designer.

It starts off with explanations how everyday human interacts with different designs and breaks it down into steps. Once a thing or a process is broken down, it's very easy for the reader to understand. Then it introduces some new terminologies to me such as constraints, affordances, and signifiers. I know the author has other book talking about design which kind of interest me into reading more.

Another key takeaway for me is the part where he talks about the knowledge in the head versus the knowledge in the world. Knowing this difference can explain sometimes why people behave in certain ways around different designs.

Then it all boils down if a user is not using your design as intended, it's not the user's fault, you need to put more thinking into your design and analyze what can be changed or improved.

The author's view on incremental and radical innovation also redefined those two words for me. If you want to check if you understanding of radical innovation is in line with mine, step into the book and find out.

The book contains a lot of examples in each chapter, it's easier to read and fits my way of learning. I like to connect theories with real world cases, it helps me understanding a new concept, and helps me to recognize the case when I encounter it in the real world. After all, I'm all for practical uses for my knowledge in my head.