The Design of Everyday Things
by Donald Norman
<The First Chapter>
Cellphone as our Everyday Thing
Of course, what struck me the most from this first chapter was Norman's long, descriptive commentary on the "Modern Telephone" and its design's limitations. As my Blog will be exploring cell-phones, I thought, a product in my life that would make a good section for Norman's book is obviously the cell-phones: how the design of these cell phones evolved from flip-phones to slide phones to touch pads and now to some other bizarre format. According to Norman, "Designing well is not easy." I used to say that I want to become a designer when I was in elementary school. It was a short-sighted thought as "the needs of those concerned [the customers or the people who request the design] are different and often conflict." I saw how difficult it is to satisfy everyone although it certainly is possible. There I realized how products evolve, including cell-phones, and there I realized how much skill is required to suggest a good design. Products fail and success because of the design and the change in trend.
"Don't you feel really empty using those touch phones? I need my fingers to actually feel like pushing something." I used to have a flip phone back when I was in 5th grade. It was my first cell phone, and I was so excited to have them. Then, the "slide-phones" came out, which was the coolest thing ever. The phones started to get thinner, slimmer, and just "cooler." Then the touchscreen phones started to over-dominate the cellphone market. I got my first Iphone in 10th grade. Now I have an Iphone 5. My dad has an Iphone 4S, my sister has Samsung Galaxy, and my mom, now she has LG's G2. She loves it and she will not stop "Lining" me (a messenger app).
Multi-function smart phones are great. You do not have to carry a camera, voice recorder, an alarm clock, a magazine, a game software, a map - basically anything you can ever possibly think of - as long as you have your smartphone. There are phones with bigger screens, smaller higher voice recognition, and other technological focuses. There are phones designed high-name brands such as the "Prada Phone." Yet, many people stick to flip phones, simply because they are cheaper and they feel more comfortable typing - they say that they can type in flip phones without looking, but not on their Iphones. Moreover, people say that phones are needed just or messaging and calling, so as long as their phones can perform those two functions, they find other functions just confusing and unnecessary. Everyone has different taste, but smartphone companies can also think about the texture of their phones (the touch of their screen, so it can imitate the feeling of buttons) or making other functions more easily accessible. It is exciting to see how smart phone companies approach this ongoing competition with flip phones (Check why people still prefer flip phones!).
*This book should definitely catch up and include cell phones as a big part of this book since one of our everyday things nowadays is Cell phone, our beloved magical box, which our lives depend on.
"Don't you feel really empty using those touch phones? I need my fingers to actually feel like pushing something." I used to have a flip phone back when I was in 5th grade. It was my first cell phone, and I was so excited to have them. Then, the "slide-phones" came out, which was the coolest thing ever. The phones started to get thinner, slimmer, and just "cooler." Then the touchscreen phones started to over-dominate the cellphone market. I got my first Iphone in 10th grade. Now I have an Iphone 5. My dad has an Iphone 4S, my sister has Samsung Galaxy, and my mom, now she has LG's G2. She loves it and she will not stop "Lining" me (a messenger app).
Multi-function smart phones are great. You do not have to carry a camera, voice recorder, an alarm clock, a magazine, a game software, a map - basically anything you can ever possibly think of - as long as you have your smartphone. There are phones with bigger screens, smaller higher voice recognition, and other technological focuses. There are phones designed high-name brands such as the "Prada Phone." Yet, many people stick to flip phones, simply because they are cheaper and they feel more comfortable typing - they say that they can type in flip phones without looking, but not on their Iphones. Moreover, people say that phones are needed just or messaging and calling, so as long as their phones can perform those two functions, they find other functions just confusing and unnecessary. Everyone has different taste, but smartphone companies can also think about the texture of their phones (the touch of their screen, so it can imitate the feeling of buttons) or making other functions more easily accessible. It is exciting to see how smart phone companies approach this ongoing competition with flip phones (Check why people still prefer flip phones!).
*This book should definitely catch up and include cell phones as a big part of this book since one of our everyday things nowadays is Cell phone, our beloved magical box, which our lives depend on.
Please add to this post a section about cell phones writing using Norman's style to discuss aspects of a phone that work and don't work
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