Design takes care of the way things work, more specifically the interaction between people and objects. Its end goal is to guarantee that products satisfy human needs, that they are user-friendly and usable, and that hopefully, they offer the user an enjoyable experience. Having said that, bad design is much more noticeable than good design, because well designed objects that are easy to use, adapt so well to our everyday lives that they just blend in. Bad design on the other hand, makes the object’s inadequacy stand out, giving us a tonne of problems in our regular routine. We often have trouble using even seemingly simple objects, such as a basic glass door, and we blame ourselves, thinking that this only happens to us. This is actually very common, so it is time to change the way we look at things, and shake off the responsibility for our little “daily calamities”: it is actually not our “fault”, it is the object’s fault. It is not up to us to understand the illogical directives of things and technology: it is up to them, through good design, to adapt to us, and understand us. And yet, a big part of design issues derive from a complete lack of understanding of the principles of the design process required for effective interaction between man and object. This happens because a large part of the process is carried out by engineers, who are experts in technology but have a limited understanding of people.
Whereas, in reality, design suggests a fascinating interaction of technology and psychology, and thoughtful designers need to understand both. Objects, cars and technology should be designed bearing in mind that people make mistakes: designers need to make the effort to reduce this room for human error as much as possible, and maximise the user’s opportunities for noticing their mistakes and correct them. It is to be expected that, when humans interact with machines, things are not always going to go well: again, designers should anticipate these mistakes. The solution is anthropocentric, or Human Centred Design, HCD. This approach puts human need, capacity and behaviour at the centre of the design process.
