The Design of Everyday Things - Chapter 1

In chapter one of Donald A. Norman's book The Design of Everyday Things, I found myself very surprised. I had never thought about even the most mundane things in my everyday life having such complex effects. For example, I have encountered similar glass swinging doors that Norman told about. I, too, was confused when I thought I was supposed to push a door, but it was actually intended to be pulled. It usually happens at department stores when they have the minimalistic look or at small shops whose handles go horizontally across on both sides, making the implication of pushing or pulling ambiguous.

The discussion about the complexity of the simple telephone made me laugh. It reminds me of the telephones that I have to use at my workplace. I work in retail, so the telephones are mostly used when a guest calls or when we must page for someone in the store. It has the standard numberpad and several buttons on the right hand side. Some of the phones have a template attached that shows what each button does, but for some reason or another, some of the phones have lost these templates. All you see is a column of white buttons. When any of the employees encounter these phones, they have to pause and figure out which button to press in order to page someone. Some people actually memorized (it's the fifth button down). Others just avoid those particular phones all together.

When I first started working at that store, I remember having so much trouble using the phone. In particular, I was unable to put someone on hold for a while. I was taught how to use the phone at the beginning, but I had forgotten which button was the hold button. There is a red button and a pink button at the top of the phone; one is to hang up the phone and the other is to put the caller on hold. I kept mixing them up in trying to guess which was which. Let's just say that we had a few very annoyed callers for a while...

Just reading the first chapter of this book has made me change my view of everyday things. Now I think about how some things come very naturally to me without instruction. I also think about what things give me trouble, and how they should be improved. I look forward to reading the rest of the book to find out about how everyday things affect my everyday life and how I can improve upon those things in my future endeavors.