The Illusion of Control
The psychological term for a button designed to make users feel in control, even if it has no practical function
Placebo button
The term for our internal, personal understanding of how an object or system is supposed to work is called
a mental model
The famous quote by Steve Jobs referenced in Chapter 8 says design is "not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is..."
... how it works
A common feature of pedestrian design, used for illusion of control.
What is a crosswalk/crossing button?
A key factor designers consider when thinking of ways to lower anxiety and impatience.
What is the Illusion of Control?
True or false:
Placebo buttons in elevators serve a genuine purpose and actually close the doors.
False
When a designer's physical model doesn't align with a user's internal model, it results in this immediate emotion from the user
Frustration (or confusion)
What is the word for when a product's value is solely determined by how pretty or visually appealing it is?
superficial design (prioritizes aesthetics)
What is the name of this classic example of bad physical design regarding doors? (mentioned in chapter 1)
Norman Door
Design that exploits emotional triggers or cognitives biases for profit, leads to unhealthy consumption patterns, or short-lived satisfaction
What is manipulative design?
What are other techniques described in the chapter that designers use in order to give people this perceived feeling of control?
mirrors in elevators, longer wait-time estimates in amusement parks
The degree to which you have this feeling of being in control is called
the "locus of control"
According to Berkun, the visual appearance isn't completely useless - it matters because how an object looks directly indicates this to the user...
how to use it
Location where officials made a longer walk to baggage claim, a remedy for complaints on baggage wait times.
What is the Houston Airport?
Great design is often described by this adjective because when it works flawlessly, the user is able to accomplish their task without ever consciously noticing the interface.
invisible
The degree to which we have the feeling of being in control of something.
What is the Locus of Control?
The total amount of mental effort and working memory a user needs to process information, learn, and interact with an interface
What is Cognitive Load?
When an object looks incredibly beautiful, but is a nightmare to use, it is said to suffer from this specific imbalance
prioritizing form over function (or style over usability)
A suggestion the book makes for an additional way to lower impatience on an elevator.
What is a count-down clock?
What are some attributes of good design that are often overlooked?
prioritizes:
reliability, ease of repair, environmental safety, etc.
Providing a placebo button is a design pattern used to manage this specific human emotion while waiting.
Anxiety (impatience)
Study of how our brains perceive, think, and interact with the world.
What is Cognitive psychology?
This two-word term describes the complete visual and practical agreement of an objects shape with its intended purpose.
what is unified design or what is structural harmony?
Exploiting natural cravings for sweet, salty, and fatty flavors.
Enticing us to consume products that are engineered to be more appealing than their nutritional benefits warrant.
Tapping into evolutionary drivers that encourage calorie consumption in the past, making us susceptible to unhealthy choices in a modern context.
What are ways the design of food products manipulate our instincts?
Design that enhances user experience, simplifies tasks, improves quality of life.
What is Beneficial Design?