What makes some designs good and others bad? Why do some designs work while others don’t? Posts in this category offer thoughtful design critiques of modern digital interfaces, with commentary inspired by Don Norman’s “The Design of Everyday Things.”
When we were given this assignment, I quickly thought of the most annoying flaw on any of my semi-regularly used apps on my Android phone – getting past the home screen on the New York Public Library app. Which I hardly use anymore because I hate it. The website is infinitely more enjoyable for me …
I have chosen the Amazon.com website as an example of good design. I use Amazon.com from time to time to purchase merchandise and what’s great about it’s design is that it has good, visibility, affordances, feedback and constraints. One of the first things that I noticed on the homepage is that, it has a …
There are seemingly an infinite different ways to get the news online these days, but one of my favorite content apps to use on the iPhone is The Daily Beast “Read This, Skip That” app, which is linked to the site TheDailyBeast.com. Their articles range from topics including politics, pop-culture, world news and more. Instead of …
Instagram is a photo sharing app, which utilizes several of Don Norman’s principles for good design, which make it a user-friendly social media mobile app. (You can also make 15 second videos with Instagram but this blog will focus on the photo sharing aspects.) There are a number of constraints that make Instagram easy for …
Feedly is an RSS aggregator available for Android, iOS, and through web browsers. I use Feedly primarily through Firefox, mostly because I find the mobile app too annoying to use. Upon opening the Feedly Android app, the first visible screen is the most recent story in the user’s first category. (At least I think it’s …
Yesterday, I wanted to get a cup of tea before I went to work because I have been feeling a little under the weather. I knew there was an Argo Tea on University Place, close to my workplace, so I Googled “Argo Tea” and found myself on their website. And that was about all that …
The GNOME 3 desktop environment is one of many GUIs supported by Ubuntu OS. Upon starting GNOME 3 (which is to say turning on the computer or starting Ubuntu,) the user is faced with an environment that should not be too unfamiliar to any computer user (above.) The interface is minimalist, and the only visible …
The newest version (9.0.2) of the iOS Snapchat application is an example of bad design. And for those who have never used Snapchat before the newest update, it is an example of horrendous design. Trying to navigate this version of Snapchat proves a perfect demonstration of the Norman idea that understandability rather than simplicity is …
Snapchat iOS Application, Version 9.0.2 (Bad Design) Read More »
I have often marveled at the bad design of Pratt’s “Academic Tools,” and now, thanks to Donald Norman and The Design of Everyday Things, I have some vocabulary to explain why the design is so bad. Academic Tools is a section of Pratt Institute’s website that allows students to do the following tasks: accept or …
The Uber iOS application (in its most recent version, 2.58) is an application my mom can use. As a car service request, it saves the user the time and energy of calling and waiting for a regular cab (which, from experience, sometimes does not even show up) and does not require the user to have …
Uber iOS Application, Version 2.58 (Good Design) Read More »