I believe that the author intended to emphasize the importance and definition of efficient design in modern day products. The author utilized a combination of personal examples and elaboration on the principles of design to differentiate efficient and poor design. One of the principles of design that I found to be extremely important was visibility; this principle states that correct parts must be visible and must convey the correct message. I think visibility is very relevant in the design of modern products because of the increase in technological capability. Designers must combine many different controls into products, while presenting them in a way that is logical and not overwhelming. The problem we face today is that many new products have so many features that we do not know how to take advantage of because we do not understand the relationships between the controls and the results we seek to accomplish. Another important principle that was introduced in the chapter was the necessity of feedback. Feedback from a product assures the user that the result they are aiming for is accomplished. The author compared poor feedback to drawing a picture with a pencil that leaves no marks: it makes it difficult for the user to see where he is going and what he is trying to do. One final point that the author highlighted was the paradox of design. This concept states that while technology provides us with increased functions to simplify our lives, it also adds complexity to life by making it more difficult to use the product. I found this concept very interesting as it is one of the reasons that our seminar class is very pertinent to the real world. As a society, we must learn how to utilize natural design to make products easier to use and understand.
One specific product I have had great difficulty using is my TI-84 graphing calculator. In my opinion, the biggest problem with the design of this product is that it has an excess of visibility. The calculator has 50 buttons, most of which have a first, second, and alpha function. There are so many keys on the calculator, and there is a great deal of very small lettering squeezed onto the display. This makes the calculator very intimidating, and also makes it very difficult to find the buttons that are needed to perform a specific operation. When using the calculator, I usually feel like a second-grader trying to type on a keyboard, using one finger, and completing about ten words per minute. While the calculator has an incredible variety of abilities, I found that I only needed a very limited number of them in my calculus class last year, and because of the excess of visibility, I had a hard time performing these operations.
The designers of the iPod addressed the principles that Norman discusses by appealing to natural design. In other words, the iPod simply is very logical and easy to use. There are very few buttons on the control panel, making choices very simple and obvious. Once the iPod is turned on, it is very easy to navigate the device's menu to find music, videos, pictures, or whatever else is stored in its memory. Thus, the designers strived to maintain visibility in the iPod. Mapping is another quality that points to the success of the design of the iPod. There is a very natural relationship between the actions the user must perform and the results to be accomplished. To move down through a list, one moves around the wheel in a clockwise direction, while to scroll up through a list, one moves in a counterclockwise direction. There are very evident forward and backward buttons which are naturally understandable to users. Overall, the iPod was designed with the user in mind at all times.
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