Affordances and Signifiers I: The Design of Everyday Things
One of the most profound things written in the first chapter of The Design of Everyday Things is the statement that all things artificial are designed in some way. Not everything is necessarily designed well, but everything is intentionally designed in some way. In the modern era, most everything (from everyday things to things used in specialized tasks, from physical things to virtual things) is intentionally and painstakingly designed, since most of the things people use are designed in a commercial setting and are meant to be sold to the consumers that use them. Competition breeds careful design in the modern age. However, not everything designed is an item. Processes and systems are also things that have intentional designs, and it I think it is clear to see inefficiencies and imperfections in the processes and systems that people take part in every day. For example, before the modern era of information and computing, a large amount of information was stored physically in systems such as a series of file cabinets in an office. Many of these systems of storing information are clearly inefficient (compared to today’s standards), and if they look anything like the filing cabinets at my parents’ house, lack a clear sense of organization to anyone from an outside perspective. However, the organization (or lack thereof) probably makes sense to the people that built the system or are embedded in using the system on a daily basis. So my theory of why we see inefficiencies in frequently used procedures and systems is that humans prioritize routine and familiarity over efficient design. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a particularly profound statement, but it’s definitely another thing to think about when designing items or interfaces.