Usually, I start the conversation about Game Design with a discussion of HCI and User Experiences more generally. This year, we’re doing it backwards.
what I want you to think about is something even more fundamental than Human Computer Interaction: let’s start by considering the design considerations for making usable things in general.
The readings for this come from The Design of Everyday Things, a great book by Don Norman (link on Amazon). The required reading is the first 2 chapters. The third chapter is optional (but highly recommended).
Chapter 1: The Psychopathology of Everyday Things
Chapter 2: The Psychology of Everyday Actions
Chapter 3: Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Note: all three chapters are in the protected reader. Use your CS login to access them.
Read at least chapters 1 and 2 (I recommend reading chapter 3 as well), and post a comment in the board on the forum.
In your comment, consider some object (it might be a computer program, or it might be something else) that you use on a regular basis. How does it follow Norman’s principles? (having a good conceptual model, making things visible, good mappings, feedback, affordances).
A big part of Norman’s chapters is to introduce some vocabulary for considering why things are (or aren’t) usable. Please use this vocabulary in your posting.
Please post your comment before reading other people’s – although, you will probably find reading other peoples’ comments instructive (and comment on their comments). There has been some interesting discussion in the past around this.
We’ll discuss this material in class on Tuesday, November 20th. Please complete the reading and post your comment before 11AM on 11/20 (so I can look at them before class).
