The 3 Levels of Design in Flip-flops

So we learnt, human responses to the things around them are complex and determined by a wide variety of reasons. It could arise from our preconceptions, our experiences, or what the designers and advertisers tell us.

Norman highlighted the three levels of design – visceral, behavioral and reflective – in his book Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things. I particularly like this statement he made, “If it is this expensive, it must be special”. Ridiculous as it may sound, all of us must be guilty of this at some juncture of our shopping experience. That is the reflective side of the mind talking to us.

For example, how is this Juicy Salif by Philippe Starck in any way effective and/or efficient to be a citrus squeezer?

According to (beloved) Wikipedia, Starck is rumored to have said, “My juicer is not meant to squeeze lemons; it is meant to start conversations”. Hmm. They even came up with gold plated version to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Juicy Salif launch (where only 10,000 were produced and individually numbered).

Very pretty (or visceral), yes.
Very glamourous (or reflective), extremely.
Usability (or behavioural), almost zero.

But will you buy it if you’ve got the spare cash?
I’ll say why not.

Let’s now talk about flip-flops. I am almost a 24/7 flip-flops person. Thank goodness flip-flops are more timeless than say, bell-bottoms are. (If you managed to escape the ‘90s without a pair of bell-botts, kudos to you!)

VISCERAL FLIP-FLOPS
How something looks like

The visceral level is biological and refers to your wired in preferences. For flip-flops, it could be the colours, the varied prints, the material used or the overall shape of the flip-flops that influence your perception.

The conception of visceral perception is simple – it is all about your reflexive response to aesthetics, and hence, varies among individuals.

BEHAVIOURAL FLIP-FLOPS
How something works

The behavioural level is all things practical: the function, the usability, the understandability and the physical feel of the object.

When it comes to behavioural flip-flops, it has to be Crocs. I’ve never personally tried one but according to Crocs, the philosophy behind this (gentle) giant is “a lightweight, comfortable, slip-resistant, fashionable and functional shoe, which can be produced quickly and at an affordable price to our customers”.

Personal note: Erm. I don’t know so much about the “fashionable” part, but according to friends who own Crocs, it is as it promised, “lightweight, comfortable, slip-resistant and functional”. Crocs haters who are Facebook users, click here and here and here.

REFLECTIVE
What something means to you

Norman says, “Our house is littered with things that don’t work too well but I wanted them anyway.” Sounds familiar?

The focus is not whether the object works well or not, but the message brought along by the possessing and associating with the object. Reflective design can be the personal remembrance something evokes, but is more frequently the shared meaning of a product in a culture.

Reflective design is very much culture specific. Havaianas is a fine example of how flip-flops can be moulded into a fashion statement.

Who would have thought of putting Swarovski crystal on otherwise cheap rubber flip-flops?

Reflective design is in essence deliberate and intentional. It is nothing practical (behavoural) and nothing biological (visceral). The visceral level is designed to fulfill people’s emotional needs and allows the establishment of one’s self image and status in the world.

AFTER THOUGHTS
Design is hardly neutral and we can say, it is manipulative. As user experience designers, we got to wise up and be aware of the power of the design. The irony is that doesn’t seem to stop me from buying my staple havaianas.

Oh wells, I am a willing victim of the power of (good) design AND excellent branding.

Bad Design: Apple’s Macbook?

You know, the first thing that crossed my mind each time someone says “bad design” is the door handles along the AS1 and AS6 walkway. Goodness! With no offence to the decision maker who decided to plant that thing on every classroom door, why defy the universal mechanism of pushing down to unlock the door (and risk rendering unsuspecting users helpless and looking rather pathetic)?

The bad design I am sharing today is not the door handle though. We all had our fair share of its total lack of usability, and there is no point harping on something with such notorious reputation already. (You can read more on an ex-classmate’s blog if you are interested.)

The bad design I am sharing comes from this:

No kidding. Let me explain now that you have gotten over your momentary period of shock.

I know Apple epitomises great designs and I mean really GREAT designs (think: iPods, iPhones and the latest MacBook Air). I have recently switched over to Mac after being a Windows user for the longest time. Trust me, it is not just pretty outer shell, the interface scores way better in terms of usability it makes me wonder what took me so long to switch over.

I am a happy Mac user in all aspects but one – the battery mechanism. Here is how the back of MacBook looks like:

I was warned prior my switch that the battery might serve a little inconvenience and true enough, this random round metal disc has become a permanent appendage to my MacBook.

Why you may ask?

To maximise the life of the battery, I make it a point to remove the battery when the laptop is attached to the power supply. This is what you do to remove the battery from the MacBook:

1. Using the bronze disc, turn the button to the unlock position.

2. The battery will pop up upon reaching the unlock position.

3. To which, you can lift it up and hence, removing the battery successfully.

It didn’t help that I switched over from a Fujistu, whose latch/unlatch mechanism is so idiot-proof I never ever gave it a thought the whole three years when I was using it.

Given Apple’s brillant design team, it just did not make sense that they could not work on it further and make the battery mechanism as great as the rest of the MacBook.

I conducted a simple usability test with my mother and my brother. One who is weak with technology and handicapped when it comes to computers; and the latter has a fair share of technology and owns two laptops himself.

The test is simple. Without providing them with anything else other than the laptop, remove the battery from the slot.

1. My mother tried a push and turn approach, which failed for obvious reasons.

2. My brother who has been observing my mother all these while, took out a coin and remove the battery as he should.

Both of them felt that it is troublesome to have to remove the battery this way, especially when it is something that has to be taken in and out regularly. However, my brother added that it is not such a bad flaw given that a coin is something relatively easy to find, though the design should not be made as such in the first place.

The brand impression remains at status quo as they commented that “it is all part of the design and the whole Macbook looks really good”. It is apparent from their response that good visceral appearance can compensate minor design flaws.

Perhaps what Norman says is true; “none of this “tools adapt to the people” nonsense – people adapt to the tools”. For me, I have adapted well by attaching the round bronze disc to my laptop bag (just like how I have adapted to Mac OS X in mere weeks and became crippled and slow navigating around the once familiar Windows).

If you ask me, it is a bad design but I am ready to overlook it because there are so many more reasons why the Macbook is good design.

*Donald A. Norman in Human-Centered Design Considered Harmful

Hello world!

A cliché opening to a new beginning!

It is irony to have to blog for school when my personal blog is closed to abandonment, but this is definitely exhilarating! I am sincerely looking forward to move along this module!

I account this to be the strange thing that happens when you realised it is the FINAL semester of your university life; to which suddenly, everything becomes extremely invigorating and interesting. Pfft.

On my mission to make my final semester a rocking good one, I abandoned my fellow honours mates to take this module alone. Design has always been something close to my heart though I may not be the best at it. NM4210 makes perfect sense.

Then, blessed I am to have very nice classmates offering to have me in their group. Thank youuuu! :)

So yep, nothing technical on the first entry. Just a gist of who I am and what I am like, and because I agree with Norman’s “attractive things work better” philosophy, please bear with the bareness while I find time to work on the blog layout.

Ending it off with a quote I find meaningful when we talk about design,

The hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can inspire.
- anonymous

Love,
Min