Design Everyday

Design of everyday things
Summary so far:
– many so-called human errors are actually errors in design – human factors became important as human performance limitations reached when handling complex machinery

You will soon know these important concepts for designing everyday things
– perceived affordances – causality – visible constraints – mapping – transfer effects – idioms & population stereotypes – conceptual models – individual differences Slide deck by Saul Greenberg. Permission is granted to use this for non-commercial purposes as long as general credit to Saul Greenberg is clearly maintained. Warning: some material in this deck is used from other sources without permission. Credit to the original source is given if it is known. Saul Greenberg – why design is hard

Perceived Affordance
The perceived properties of the object that suggest how one could use it

chairs are for sitting table for placing things on

knobs are for turning

slots are for inserting handles are for turning

buttons are for pressing

switch for toggling

computer for…
Saul Greenberg

Many concepts in this section are adapted from Don Norman’s book: The Design of Everyday Things

1 - Design of everyday things

Perceived Affordances
Product design
– perceived affordances:
• design invites people to take possible actions

– actual affordances:
• the actual actionable properties of the product

Problems occur when
– these are not the same, – people’s perceptions are not what the designer expects

In-depth discussion available at www.jnd.org/dn.mss/affordances-and-design.html

Saul Greenberg

Perceived Affordances
Mirrors for not touching

Knobs for turning Handles for lifting

Surface for placing transparencies

Saul Greenberg

2 - Design of everyday things

Perceived Affordance Problems
Mirrors for not touching people don’t reposition image

Knobs for turning

Handles for lifting

focus or image position?

bends frame, focus