Doors

In our class we separated into groups and went and observed peoples interaction with doors. It is not something we generally stop to think about but it turned out to be quite interesting. We noticed that people will almost always go for a door if its open or partially open rather than opening a completely shut door. We also noticed that most people went for the right door rather than the left door and we guessed this is because they are right handed. The times we noticed this changed was when the were talking or texting on their phone. Then they would use their other hand or their body to open the door. We also noticed if a handle isn't in the spot they would expect it to be it made them pause for a minute and think about it. Opening a door isn't something we generally think about until something happens we weren't planning on. I also thought it was interesting when we talked about how much we interact with things during the day and we never think about it. We have learned from experience how to use certain things and we don't consciously think about them anymore. If we had to consciously think about everything we interact with it would make for a very long boring day. This was a pretty interesting experience because it is something I would have never thought to do and I thought it was going to be pretty boring when we first got the assignment. We actually got a lot of good insight about interaction in general and it was kind of fun to watch people and how they all are a little different in their interactions.

A door is a great example of a conceptual model. A conceptual model is a way for us predict the effects of our actions. With a door when we see a handle that is a straight bar we know to push. We can see weather the hinges are on the right or left and that tells us which side to push from. If the door is glass we can see the handle on the other side of the door and that gives us another clue to how this door. From these visual cues we know that if we push on the right side of the door the door will open. But what happens when the door doesn't open? We stop and look at it again and wonder what we did wrong. I really liked Donald Normans quote from his book The Design of Everyday Things. He says,

 "when people have trouble with something is isn't their fault- it's the fault of the design."

Feedback is the way we know if our efforts worked or failed. If we try to open a door and it doesn't move that is our feedback. A design fails when it does not provide feedback. Feedback is vital for a good design whether its a noise, movement, vibration or light. Without feedback we sit and wonder if it actually worked or should we try again.