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.

Book Reading #52 - Living With Complexity

Reference Information

Title: Living With Complexity

Author: Donald Norman

Publisher: 2010 Basic Books

Summary:

Chapter 3: How Simple Things Can Complicate Our Mind

In this chapter, 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.

Chapter 4: Social Signifiers

In this chapter, 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.

Discussion:

I agree with the author when he says - as the amount of information increases, the task becomes confusing. This is true because we have a very limited short term memory. This is where tools like pencil and paper come in handy. Information can be stored and retrieved using these tools, which have enhanced human knowledge. Also, we already know how important it is to have appropriate forcing functions. These functions force the user to perform an action in the right direction. Social signifiers, social cuing or affordances are also extremely important to come up with an intelligent design. This was proved using many examples in the Design of Everyday Things book.

Book Reading #51 - Living With Complexity

Summary:

Chapter 1: Why Is Complexity Necessary?

In this chapter, 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.

Chapter 2: Simplicity is in the Mind

In this chapter, 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.

Discussion:

Norman does a great job in differentiating complex from confusing and complicated. Something might look simple, but doesn't necessarily mean that it's indeed simple. It might be very complex from within but the designers did a great job at not making it confusing giving an impression of simplicity to the users. For example, Apple Iphone has just two buttons - home button and the power off button. The interface is extremely simple but the design and the internals are extremely complex.