Design Thinking in Norman and Wiggins: Everyday Objects to Teaching

Introduction: Hill-Climbing and the Design Challenge

In The Design of Everyday Things, the chapter titled "The Design Challenge" by Donald Norman argues that good design is "hill-climbing" (1988, 142). He likens the evolution of a successful design — such as the standard telephone — to a series of trials and errors, where each error leads to an improvement in a particular aspect of the design, which is then carried forward into future iterations of the same product. Analogous to climbing a hill in the dark, Norman explains that if you move your foot in one direction and it is downhill, you try another direction. If that direction is uphill, you take that step and continue feeling for upward movement until you reach the top of the hill.

Norman also discusses the sometimes intertwined design histories of Xerox and Apple computers, offering pointed criticisms of each company at specific stages of their design development — criticisms that have, of course, since been addressed and improved upon. He includes a section on "explorable systems: inviting experimentation," in which he applauds the tendency of computer designers to encourage users to experiment without fear of serious consequences, allowing them to learn through exploration. He also discusses the "command mode," in which the user types direct commands for the computer to execute, contrasting it with first-person manipulation interfaces — in which commands are embedded and hidden — which is the mode most computers use today (1988, 184).

In the section "Why Designers Go Astray" (1988, 151), Norman complains that the rewards the design community offers place aesthetics first, honoring objects that look good but do not necessarily function well. He attributes this in part to the fact that designers are not typical users — having worked with their own designs so many times, they lose the perspective of someone encountering the object for the first time. Designers have also created their work to please a client, and those clients may not be users either (1988, 157). The clients who commission and pay for designs may be interested only in price, size, appearance, whether the product fits a certain space, or whether it can be sold in bulk.

Why Designers Go Astray: Aesthetics Over Function

Norman devotes several pages to "The Faucet: A Case History of Design Difficulties" (1988, 166–172), using it to illustrate the temptations designers face — chief among them the tendency to add features rather than simplify. He then turns his attention to the computer and its "foibles" (1988, 177), continuing his argument that interface design too often sacrifices usability for complexity or visual appeal.

In one of the chapters of Things That Make Us Smart, titled "A Human-Centered Technology," Norman states that he is fundamentally skeptical of technology, yet is inclined to believe that physical tools are a wonderful aid in enhancing human perception. He outlines the distinction between physical and mental tools, and argues that technology was not deliberately planned — that it "just happened." In doing so, he gives little credit to the initiative power of the human mind and its capacity to expand knowledge, skills, and tools in response to genuine needs. Norman ponders how technology has contributed so much to the world's problems, yet concludes: "So, yes, I am delivering a message of warning, but one accompanied by hope, not despair" (1993, 8).

Technology, Cognition, and Human-Centered Design

According to Norman, the dangers of modern technology lie primarily in its entertainment dimension, where it intrudes upon education and intellectual pursuits. He also discusses the design of the faucet at length as a case study in how conflicting standards and client-driven decision-making can produce objects that frustrate rather than assist users — a theme that runs throughout his broader critique of the design industry.

Norman defines and contrasts two modes of thinking: experiential cognition and reflective cognition. He acknowledges that these modes overlap but argues that they must be kept in balance. What one experiences is important, but reflection and contemplation are necessary to maintain a rational mind. Entertainment, he warns, can fixate the mind on the experiential side to the point of imbalance, crowding out the reflective thinking that deeper understanding requires.

Conclusion: Design in Service of Human Needs

Things That Make Us Smart provides a very convincing argument for the fact that technology offers a poor trade-off for human interaction. Each of its assets has been offset by a corresponding deficit. Norman admits that different people may reach different conclusions, but he finds that, overall, technology is in arrears. Taken together, all three texts reviewed here share a common concern: that whether designing a physical object, a digital interface, or a curriculum, the measure of success is whether the design genuinely serves the human being at its center.