Reference Information
Title: Design of Everyday Things
Author: Donald Norman
Editor: Basic Books, 2002
Chapter 4: Knowing What to Do
Summary
This chapter discussed design clues that let people know what to do, including signals, visuals, and sounds. Signals include physical, semantic, cultural, and logical constraints, as well as affordances that convey messages about possible uses, actions, and functions. The author included examples such as a lego motorcycle, doors, and light switches to describe his point.
Discussion
The discussion about light switches and needing a new method seemed rather odd to me. Sure, light switches tend to get confusing, but generally a person just goes around the room and tries them all out at first to determine which switch works which light. The author's argument of creating an entirely new kind of light switch seemed too absurd. Simply moving the positions of the current light switches to places that make more sense would help to fix this problem in an easier fashion.
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