Log 2 (1)

The focus of the chapter reading was the use of every day objects being dependent upon the quality of their design. The quality of an objects design does often affect its use, although not necessarily its functionality. This was also a topic of discussion in my RSMP class the other day when we discussed how poorly designed older stoves are (the controls being located passed the burners on the unit as to promote the user of the stove to burn themselves). When considering the design of an object, its usage should be somewhat intuitive if its going to be able to be easily used by a mass public. The more simplistic the design, the easier it will be able to be used by a public, thus making it a practical design. When the author discusses their testing out of a new computer for instance, the design was hard to understand at first and lead to the loss of data if the "return" key was pressed in place of the "enter" key and vice versa. The author then pointed out the fact that the designer said this was not a real issue seeing that this was the first instance of complaint about the design, blaming the author. People often do blame themselves when using a product because of the faulty design, although it may not be their fault. The point of a good design is that it is easily usable by the public with little to no design issues which confuse the public, making it a good interactive device and easily usable interface.