Ford Shelby GT500

Donald Norman is starting to dominate my blog! This time however, the post will be about another book by him; Emotional Design chapter III.

1. What do you feel were the author's key points in this chapter?
   Norman starts this chapter in his book by an introduction followed by the explanations of the three levels of design: Visceral Design, Behavioral Design, Reflective Design. In the introduction section, Norman, through the water bottles example, states that "the entire success of the product lies in its package, not its contents" (64). "Visceral design is what nature does" (65); Norman starts explaining Visceral Design. It is mostly about the first reaction humans give to a product. These reasons are either common penchants build through becoming a human, or are determined by the experiences of a single person. In short, if something looks good, feels good, it succeeds in Visceral Design. On the contrary, Behavioral Design focuses on the function and performance of the product rather than its appearance. "If the item doesn't do anything of interest , then who cares how well it works?" (70) is how Norman explains the dynamics of Behavioral Design, stating function is the most important factor. "After function ocomes understanding" (75). A product needs to be self-explanatory, people should not need manuals for using, and if they ever do they should be able to read it once and never need it again. Usability is also covered in this section, it is defined to be complex: "A product that does what is required, and is understandable, may still not be usable" (77). Furthermore, Norman categorizes physical feel in the checklist in a successful Behavioral Design. Another key point he includes in this section is that designers and engineers need to observe thier target audience and determine their needs if they aim to be successful. Moving on to the third level of design Norman explains Reflective Design by stating that it is about what the product means to the consumer and what message it gives. He also says that long-term costumer experience is a criteria for Reflective Design.
   
2. How does this chapter compare to the earlier writing (The Design of Everyday Things) by the same author?
   
   The earlier writing was only focused on everyday products and mostly their usability and how-to-use. However this writing covers a broader range of topics and even includes the topics covered in the earlier writing like the conceptual model and understanding how to use a product at the instance that one encounters it. In this writing the concept of successful design is divided into three. Although sometimes these may contradict, if a product is to sell and be successful it needs to be successful in at least one of there three. Another similarity between the two writings is that Norman again includes a lot of examples and anecdotes.
   
3. Give examples, from your own experience, of (i) something that succeeds as Visceral Design, (ii) something that succeeds as Behavioral Design, and (iii) a Reflective Design success? What do you thing makes each thing successful?
   
   A Visceral Design success... Looks good... Cars? A Ford Shelby GT500 perhaps! This car just looks so good, so cool, so muscular (d'oh, its a muscle car). I mean who would love that looks. Although this car is not the best in performance vs cost or in its category I would buy this one just because of its appearance. But its fuel consumption is very high. Who cares?! It looks nice! Continuing with the cars concept, lets give an example of Reflective Design success. I watched the episode of Cribs on MTV featuring Shaquille O'Neal's mansion. After riding a bike inside the house he showed his car collection. He had a lot of them, a lot... He had a Ferrari F50, which is a classic, one of the best cars to walk on Earth, only a limited number exist. He said that he bought this car only to say "Hey, I have a F50 too!",  if conversation on the car was ever brought up. He probably cant fit into the car anyway. This is a Reflective Design success by Ferrari. Their company, their cars symbolize wealth and uniqueness, so that people buy these cars to show off or try to reflect their personality. An example of a successful Behavioral Design would be a cap a friend of mine owns. The cap looks funny, when he puts it on he looks like he is bald and being bald doesn't look good on my friend. The cap also covers his ears. Its not visual. Its function however: wow! The weather is -25 Celsius degrees outside; its very cold. No problem, just wear the cap! It will really keep your head and your ears warm. Although it is not a visceral success the product does its job: keeps you warm.

As days pass, I'm starting to submit my assignments later and later... Laziness is capturing me! Must be diligent!