How to design for the consumer
Everywhere we look we find ourselves gravitating toward certain products on showroom shelves. They're sleek, pleasing to the eye, and when we use them, they seem to work easily, even the first time around. They just feel right. Examples come to mind pretty fast. The iPod would seem to top many people's lists these days. But behind such products is a growing field of academic study: user-centered design. Donald Norman, a Northwestern University professor, recently won the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science for his work on relating how people think to the products we create and use every day. He spoke recently with U.S. News:
So what is user-centered design?
I'm concerned about new technologies that frustrate us more than help us. It's not about the technology; it's about how people can take advantage of this and use it.
Has this always been a problem?
The major problems came about with electronics and computers. With mechanical systems, you could kind of figure it out. With electronics, it's all invisible.
What is the main difficulty in designing good products?
In the head of the designer, they have a really good idea of the thing they're building. But for the person to use it, the person needs to understand. The device itself is the communication medium. Designers don't seem to understand that . . . The other problem is that designers are not the best people to understand their work. The designers need review teams.
You mean focus groups?
Focus groups are no good. You get people telling you what they think you want. People are polite. Much of this behavior is subconscious. People aren't aware of their needs. If you ask them what they need in their cellphones, they won't say what they need but what the last problem was.
What is the ideal way to design a product?
I would start with an idea before the project. I would start with ethnographic studies–going out to ask what the needs are. Then I'd develop the product from this needs requirement and say I know how to overcome that. Then the first thing I would do is write a manual. Can I write a manual? . . . I want to make it so simple that it's just a page or two, or you don't even need to read it. And then I'd give that to the design people.
And that's not how it is done now?
Today, it's the other way around. The poor manual writers have to say this was on purpose. They're unintelligible.
Do you think companies are making the right changes?
I think people are realizing this. There seems to be a real consumer revolt against complexity. Look at Phillips. Their whole theme is simplicity. Companies are understanding it. Good design doesn't cost any more than bad design, especially when you start from the beginning. It always costs more when you do it at the end. Service calls cost companies a lot of money. Finally, if I really love a product I'll tell other people, so you'll get increased sales.
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