Full Blog - Living with Complexity

In chapter 1, author Donald Norman states the difference between something that's complex and something that's complicated. He mentions that complexity depends on the state of mind while something that's complicated is confusing and difficult to comprehend or master. This complex refers to the state of the world while complicated refers to the psychological state. He mentions that some complications arise due to bad design. He also mentions that sometimes complexity is required and is appropriate. Complexity can be measured using the time it takes to understand a complex concept or a task.

In chapter 2, Norman mentions that our mind takes in a complex task and breaks it down into simplified tasks, thus simplicity is the in the mind. Sometimes, the things that we perceive to be simple are in fact not that simple. Norman states that people feel comfortable working with intermediate level of complexity.

In chapter 3, the author mentions that things don't necessarily have to be complicated to be confusing; even simple things can be confusing. Norman mentions that the complexity can be due to the vast amount of information that we are required to remember, for example, numerous passwords that we are required to remember. Sometimes, putting this information out in the world helps in reducing the complexity, for example, reminders and sticky notes. Lastly, the author mentions that it's important to make use of forcing functions to constrain the choices and the amount of information, thus reducing the complexity.

In chapter 4, Norman talks about social signifiers which he defines as "indicators in the environment that allow people to navigate in otherwise complex and confusing environments". These are cues provided by the actions of other people. These signifiers are similar to the notion of affordances. Thus, intelligent designs provide signifiers that suggest the appropriate use of the device.