Title: Living With Complexity
Author: Donald A. Norman
Editors: The MIT Press (2010)
Chapter 1:
Summary: In the opening chapter of Norman's latest novel, his explains what exactly complexity is, and how it affects our everyday lives. He explains how poor design often leads to complexity, and provides several examples of complex designs. He ends the chapter discussing means of measuring complexity, such as how long it takes someone to master a task.
Discussion: Norman does a very good job of introducing complexity in his first chapter. The examples he used were thought out, and to the point.
Chapter 2:
Summary: In the second chapter of Living With Complexity, Normand discusses conceptual models, and how a good conceptual model can aid in making things easier to understand. He warns against featuritis, and talks about how simple looking products can often be highly complex.
Discussion: Norman's discussion of featuritis was incredibly insightful. We're having to deal with feature creep in our final project, so it's nice to see him discussing the matter.
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