Chapter 3 of Designing the Obvious does make some very interesting points on not always creating features that the users want. Hoekman does a great job citing other scholars who have written in this field, he shows how companies like Apple, Inc for example design products how they want not caring about the users inout; and have been doing this successfully for years now. I agree that if you company has the right mission and the correct group of designers this can work, but there's a reason Apple is only one of a few examples that can be given because it is rare and difficult to do. So far I from what I have learned in the early weeks in this class, is that a mix of what the users want and what you think works best, is the best combination of designing applications, websites etc,. I do believe that the user doesn't always know what he or she wants, and with that said the designer doesn't always know either.
As for project #2 I think that Hoekman means that a situation-eccentric approach, is something that is essential to designing, it is to look past the whittles and bells and make the design simple to use for all sorts of situations that a user might come across. I think he wants you to think simple because using products in different situations are similar to a foreign language to its new users.
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteFrom what you've written it doesn't look like you've looked at chapter 3 closely enough. You didn't answer any of the questions for this entry with references to the reading except for the first one, and your conclusions aren't what the author described later in the chapter. The other mentors and I are reading the book along with you--it would be a good idea to go back and start reading more closely before it starts affecting your projects and later entries. Feel free to take another look at chapter 3 and then extend your thoughts below.