October 31, 2021

In Chapter 9, Thackara says, “The transition to a light and sustainable economy means moving from an economy of transactions – selling and buying things - to an economy in which the quality of services, not the acquisition of goods, becomes our measure of well-being.” What would a society with this economy look like? What would this mean for design?

Designing a society with the economy based off the quality of services that measures wellbeing would look more simplistic and more human centered in my opinion. Thrackra mentions multiple times in Chapter 9 that “man-made smartness tends to be overly complicated” and the economy is no exception. As we have an economy based of transaction, its constantly trying to improve efficiency and profit, regardless of what people actually want or need. By switching to the quality of service we get to have human interactions more that is in itself “smartness” and hold much purpose to connections between people and design. Another thing to note is that with this economy we will be able to create more meaningful products that rely on quality and not quantity which can increase consumer value and product meaning. Designing quality includes not just aesthetics and lightness, but rather functionality and purpose that can be the solution to environmental or economic problems in the near future.

November 7, 2021

In Chapter One of The Design of Everyday Things, Don Norman says “Human centered design is a design philosophy. It means starting with a good understanding of people and the needs that the design is intended to meet. This understanding comes about primarily through observation, for people themselves are often unaware of their true needs, even unaware of the difficulties they are encountering.” (pp. 9) Give an example of a product that could be designed better and how it can be improved. Give examples of its affordances and signifiers.

A product that could be designed better to fit the Human centered design philiphosy would be the grocery store bag dispenser for produce items. Its affordance is to allow customers to be able to store and make weighing produce items in the check-out line easier for the cashier, also it helps with separating certain items such as fruits and vegetables. Almost everyone who has gone to a grocery store has had an encounter with this device, yet it has many flaws that should be address upon its improvement. For starters the placement of the dispensers is often high to reach in certain places which can be inconsiderate for those who cannot reach the dispenser. Also, the bags stored in the dispenser are made of thin plastic material which are in most cases not recyclable. The design of the bags themselves are hard to open to place in produce especially for customers who have a disability.

The signifiers of this device do show were to open the bag and were to pull from, however due to his small size, the font is not very large. With this being said, the bag dispenser can be improved by making the design more leveled with customers so that it can be easier for them to grab. Also, the bags could be swapped out for a more sustainable material that can be reused at another time. Lastly the instructions and cut off marks on the bag could be shown larger for customers who need large print or there could be a sign that expresses how to open and pull off the bags in the produce section.

November 14, 2021

In Chapter 5, Norman says, “People are flexible, versatile, and creative. Machines are rigid, precise, and relatively fixed in their operations. There is a mismatch between the two, one that can lead to enhanced capability if used properly.” What product/service has bad design that could improve greatly if designed with errors in mind?

When thinking about products/services that should be designed with errors in mind. I think of Grubhub. As we all have used Grubhub to order food on campus, it still has some major bug within its software that makes the customer experience aggravating at times. For starters if you want to cancel or add on to the order due to the wait time after it’s been placed, there is no action for you to do that on the app. Secondly it doesn’t always tell what item is available or how many are left. Most of this flaw Is from the partnering companies with Grubhub, such as Starbucks, who do not always update their menu. Lastly Grubhub’s delivery service is not the most accurate. A majority of the time, the drivers do not provide/pickup all contents of the food you ordered which makes the customer unable to receive the missing items unless they can go a pick it up themselves instead of the driver doing it. When this occurs Grubhub usually gives the customer a discount on their next purchase, however they still do not receive their missing food.

All these software and human flaws in Grubhub shows that while technology and humans can work together, they need to have a mutual understanding in the flexibility and error proneness that humans have and the fixed mechanisms that technology rely on. If Grubhub designed their user interface with more errors and simulations, then the design of the service will be more effective and efficient with customers.