The Design of Everyday Things

I just started reading The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman. It's an insightful and humorous book about how everyday things have been designed to frustrate and confuse us. It has already heightened my awareness of the every day things in my life. Two examples of bad design from my lunch break:

1. Yesterday I used CVS's automated prescription refill phone service. It was pretty easy to use and told me my prescription would be ready today after they called my doctor to confirm because it had expired. Just to make sure it was in fact ready before I headed over to pick it up, I called the automated system again and it confirmed that my prescription was in fact ready to pick up. So far, so good. When I arrived at CVS and gave the pharmacist my name, they gave me that confused look you get when you claim something that cannot possibly be true. The looked up my name in the system, and only then did they see my order. Not only was my prescription not ready, but they hadn't called my doctor because they were unaware of my request. The computer, however, kindly indicated that my prescription was ready.


2. Then, on a quick trip over to Alden Library, I attempted to use the elevator to go from the 4th floor to the 2nd floor. I know; I should have taken the stairs. So, I pressed the down button on the only control panel for a bank of three elevators. It lit up and the display above the button displayed "N7" with a down arrow under it, which eventually turned to "N6" and so on. I figured "N4" must be me and it was headed my way, although I'm still not sure what the "N" stands for. While I waited, someone else pressed the up button. The display continued to appear that it was counting down to the arrival of my elevator. Within seconds the first elevator opened and flashed the up arrow next to it's door, then the second elevator did the same. The display read "N5" with a down arrow, so I waited patiently. Finally, the third elevator opened and flashed the down arrow. I got in and pressed the button for the 2nd floor. To my surprise, when the doors closed, the elevator went up. I watched the display inside the elevator, which showed an up arrow and the floor we were currently passing. Interestingly, we passed the 7th floor of the seven-floor building and stopped at "PH" according to the display. The doors opened to reveal a maintenance man in what appeared to be some machine room. He got in and pressed the button for the 2nd floor. Finally, we arrived, albeit a bit later than expected. I asked him what "PH" stood for, and he said he didn't know. He also said he didn't use any special key or override to call the elevator, just a button like I had pressed on the 4th floor.

I'll never look at everyday things the same again. And I'll be sure to keep this book handy so I can read it in misbehaving elevators.