Reading: The Design of Everyday Things

Donald A. Norman wrote a great book I have been using alongside my project and was one of those I submit for reading in my proposal. Donal is a co-founder and principal of the Neilsen Norman group.

The Seven Stages of Action

• Forming a goal: What do I want?
• Forming the intention: What would satisfy this goal?
• Specifying an action: What do I have to do to achieve the intention?
• Executing the action: Do the steps I have specified.
• Perceiving the state of the world: Use my senses to gather information
  about the world and/or system I am working with.
• Interpreting the state of the world: Figure out what, if anything, has
  changed.
• Evaluating the outcome: Did I achieve my goal?

Design Principles

• Put knowledge in the world (affordances)
• Exploit automatic cognitive processes
• Use iconographic/pictorial widgets, but label them with words
• Use large widgets (within constraints)
• Keep widgets on the screen
• Keep widgets in consistent physical locations
• Keep widgets near the mouse pointer
• Avoid scrolling
• Avoid the using a combination of both keyboard and mouse for a single user task

Don Norman’s Usability Guidelines

Visibility

Make the relevant parts visible. By looking, the user should be able to tell the state of the device and the alternatives for action (affordances).

A good conceptual model

Help the user by visually communicating a good mental model of how the system works.

Good mappings

Help the user determine the relationship between actions and results, controls and effects, by using natural mappings.

Feedback

The give immediate feedback to the user about the results of their actions and the state of the system.