4 ms·

The "Design of Everyday Things" is probably one of the best books I have ever read on design. It's poignant for any designer of anything a human interacts with.

by millerm 13y ago

The "Design of Everyday Things" is probably one of the best books I have ever read on design. It's poignant for any designer of anything a human interacts with. Even though this book doesn't touch computer interaction it's completely relevant. Bonus: everyone you know who reads this book, or takes this course, will annoy you a little with the overuse of their wonderful new word "affordance". :-)

jkestner 13y ago
'Affordance' helps designers flesh out a professional vocabulary. Sounds a lot more technical than 'honest', 'humane' or 'civil', all of which I overuse. Speaking of civility, my touchstone design book is The Ice Palace That Melted Away, by Bill Stumpf (Aeron chair designer). The first chapter, on reflecting the wonder of flight in the experience, is the designer's answer to Louie CK.
- millerm 13y ago
  I'm going to have check out that first chapter to understand your meaning. I am intrigued!
- functional 13y ago
  Just for the sake of inane semantic pedantry, I have to ask: How do the words "honest", "humane" or "civil" correlate to "affordance" in this context? In the book, the term "affordance" refers to any kind of opportunity for a user to exert leverage on a designed object or system. So, a hair brush has a handle, and that handle is the point at which the object (the hair brush) affords any use by the user, because the person can grab the handle and orient the bristles when the dragging the brush through their hair. Hence the book's cover design, depicting the coffee pot with the misplaced handle, demonstrating a misplaced affordance, which results in the user getting burned when they try to pour hot coffee. The mouse is an affordance on a computer, because it's the device used for pointing. The keyboard is the affordance for typing. The video monitor is the affordance for observing output. The "submit" button on a web form in an HTML page is the affordance for sending data to the web server. When would you ever use the words "honest", "humane" or "civil" in place of "affordance"? Those are adjectives, but the word "affordance" is a noun.
  - anigbrowl 13y ago
    You just start calling everything you design 'affordant.' The GPs point is that all these adjectival terms are buzzwords for 'pleasant for a person to use.' Much of design (and indeed art nowadays) is about marketing your creation more effectively.
  - jkestner 13y ago
    Pedantry? Not here, surely. Yeah, I wouldn't use those words in place of "affordance". My point is that those are also words in the designer vocabulary, but ones that are on the fluffy side of design rather than the hard human-factors side, like "affordance". Which we don't have enough of. But I'm a fluffy designer, so who am I to complain?
ekianjo 13y ago
Yeah, very good book, and I'm glad to hear they will publish an updated version. I wonder what recent counter-examples of good design he will take this time.
- millerm 13y ago
  I actually missed that news! Awesome!
andrewcooke 13y ago
you're not the only one here, so please excuse me - this isn't a personal attack - but what does "poignant" mean in american english these days? as an english english speaker, it's associated with regret, sadness, etc. yet i've seen it used here multiple times to mean something completely different. what?
- zensavona 13y ago
  "strong in mental appeal" a subject of poignant interest.
- nsmartt 13y ago
  This isn't snark. I legitimately tried explaining in my own words. I wasn't satisfied, so: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/poignant http://www.thefreedictionary.com/poignant
  - andrewcooke 13y ago
    hmm. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/poignant?q=poignant http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/poignant?q=... (also my dead-tree concise oxford, with a longer entry, doesn't have anything that's not emotionally affected, one way or another). i suspect it's a cultural variation.
    - nsmartt 13y ago
      As mentioned by one of the other replies, it comes from "to prick" in Old French, so the usage you're seeing—Profoundly moving; touching—seems to align with that fairly well, at a glance.
- ekianjo 13y ago
  It comes from French in the first place - it's something that involves you deeply/stimulates you on an emotional/intellectual level. You can't use this for people but you use this for things or works of art usually.
adregan 13y ago
I agree. The section concerning the design of card tables pre and post American revolutionary war due to the influence of American puritanical morality was fascinating and has stuck with me now many years after first reading it. Won't it be very interesting if we are lucky enough to one day examine our own design trends through the lens of social change. What moral shift might be responsible for the trend toward flat design?

by millerm 13y ago

jkestner 13y ago

'Affordance' helps designers flesh out a professional vocabulary. Sounds a lot more technical than 'honest', 'humane' or 'civil', all of which I overuse. Speaking of civility, my touchstone design book is The Ice Palace That Melted Away, by Bill Stumpf (Aeron chair designer). The first chapter, on reflecting the wonder of flight in the experience, is the designer's answer to Louie CK.

millerm 13y ago
I'm going to have check out that first chapter to understand your meaning. I am intrigued!
functional 13y ago
Just for the sake of inane semantic pedantry, I have to ask: How do the words "honest", "humane" or "civil" correlate to "affordance" in this context? In the book, the term "affordance" refers to any kind of opportunity for a user to exert leverage on a designed object or system. So, a hair brush has a handle, and that handle is the point at which the object (the hair brush) affords any use by the user, because the person can grab the handle and orient the bristles when the dragging the brush through their hair. Hence the book's cover design, depicting the coffee pot with the misplaced handle, demonstrating a misplaced affordance, which results in the user getting burned when they try to pour hot coffee. The mouse is an affordance on a computer, because it's the device used for pointing. The keyboard is the affordance for typing. The video monitor is the affordance for observing output. The "submit" button on a web form in an HTML page is the affordance for sending data to the web server. When would you ever use the words "honest", "humane" or "civil" in place of "affordance"? Those are adjectives, but the word "affordance" is a noun.
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  You just start calling everything you design 'affordant.' The GPs point is that all these adjectival terms are buzzwords for 'pleasant for a person to use.' Much of design (and indeed art nowadays) is about marketing your creation more effectively.
- jkestner 13y ago
  Pedantry? Not here, surely. Yeah, I wouldn't use those words in place of "affordance". My point is that those are also words in the designer vocabulary, but ones that are on the fluffy side of design rather than the hard human-factors side, like "affordance". Which we don't have enough of. But I'm a fluffy designer, so who am I to complain?

ekianjo 13y ago

Yeah, very good book, and I'm glad to hear they will publish an updated version. I wonder what recent counter-examples of good design he will take this time.

millerm 13y ago
I actually missed that news! Awesome!

andrewcooke 13y ago

you're not the only one here, so please excuse me - this isn't a personal attack - but what does "poignant" mean in american english these days? as an english english speaker, it's associated with regret, sadness, etc. yet i've seen it used here multiple times to mean something completely different. what?

zensavona 13y ago
"strong in mental appeal" a subject of poignant interest.
nsmartt 13y ago
This isn't snark. I legitimately tried explaining in my own words. I wasn't satisfied, so: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/poignant http://www.thefreedictionary.com/poignant
- andrewcooke 13y ago
  hmm. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/poignant?q=poignant http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/poignant?q=... (also my dead-tree concise oxford, with a longer entry, doesn't have anything that's not emotionally affected, one way or another). i suspect it's a cultural variation.
  - nsmartt 13y ago
    As mentioned by one of the other replies, it comes from "to prick" in Old French, so the usage you're seeing—Profoundly moving; touching—seems to align with that fairly well, at a glance.
ekianjo 13y ago
It comes from French in the first place - it's something that involves you deeply/stimulates you on an emotional/intellectual level. You can't use this for people but you use this for things or works of art usually.

adregan 13y ago

I agree. The section concerning the design of card tables pre and post American revolutionary war due to the influence of American puritanical morality was fascinating and has stuck with me now many years after first reading it. Won't it be very interesting if we are lucky enough to one day examine our own design trends through the lens of social change. What moral shift might be responsible for the trend toward flat design?