Archive: Design Psycho!

So for quite a few months now, I had been reading up on the Psychology and Science of design. I have read through a few of the journals by Donald Norman and Herbert Simon on the subject and it has sparked me with intrigued.

In 'The Design of Everyday Things' Donald talked a lot about how we use objects in certain ways that are instinctive to us. We as humans use objects in ways because of what we see, for instance if there was a door that was just a blank slab how would you know how to open it? without an indication of how it works you will find it difficult to open it. This, in Donald's opinion, shows bad design. He believes that good design should be able to be understood by simple observation.

This reading got me thinking a little bit more into how some objects are designed. However, it also got me thinking, is a hard puzzle bad design? Sometimes there is a small boundary for what is good design of a complicated puzzle and a bad design of a simple puzzle. I big problem with this might be because of how we all perceive our environment; as unique individuals we all create a different understanding of the visual world.

This research gave me more thought paths into the psychology of perception and how I could create my technique of guide easier to understand in a game world.

Below are some of the journals for anyone interested in knowledge:

Donald Norman - The Design of Everyday Things:

Herbert Simon - The Sciences of the Artificial:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/133153238/Herbert-Simon-1996-The-Sciences-of-the-Artificial