Full Book Blog: Living With Complexity

Summary
The first chapter serves as an introduction to complexity. Norman differentiates between things being complex (state of the world, the tasks we do and the tools we use) and the idea of things being complicated (the psychological state of a person attempting to understand, use or interact with something in the world). He discusses keys to coping with complexity, he brings up how some complicated systems occur as a result of poor design and he provides several examples of how we like complexity in certain instances (like when we already know a lot about the topic or where complexity truly seems appropriate). He also mentions that one way to measure complexity is by the amount of time it takes to learn and master a task (10,000 hours).

In chapter 2 Norman brings up the idea of the conceptual model (the underlying belief structure held by a person about how something works), and how it helps to simplify the complexities of different systems. Norman discusses “featuritis,” adding more and more features, and explains how complexity is in the mind of the beholder. He also discuses how simpler looking does not always equate to simpler to use and how users tend to prefer an intermediate level of complexity.

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In chapter 3 Norman discusses how things get more complicated as the number of items increases. He provides remembering passwords as an example, and explains how we cope by putting the information in the world (pasting the passwords to the monitor or under the keyboard). He discusses the “scaling problem,” something that works well with only a few cases, but often fails as the number grows. He mentions how in an ideal world we would not need signs and how too much information makes things complicated. He concludes by discussing the benefits of forcing functions and provides examples through a discussion on toilet paper.

Chapter 4 focuses on social signifiers, indicators in the environment that allow people to navigate in otherwise complex and confusing environments. These signifiers are referred to as “perceived affordances” by some. Norman also discusses culture as another source of complexity and uses salt and pepper shakers as an example. Norman writes about the importance of signifiers and how they provide valuable cues as to the nature of the world and how people should act.

Discussion
Norman provides a lot of good examples throughout all the chapters that we read. He really digs down deep when explaining what complexity is, what causes it and the different types of complexity. I think one of the funniest to read was the one on toilet paper since he was so serious about it. I also thought it was interesting to read about how it takes 10,000 hours of work to be an expert.

Something I thought of while reading chapter 3 was how once when I was driving in a construction area, there was a sign on the left side of the road that read, “Left lane closed,” but on the right side of the road read a sign, “Right lane closed.” There were only two lanes and the cars were bumper-to-bumper. While I’m sure there would still be traffic regardless, I think things would have ran more smoothly if the signs had been accurate. Only the people who put the signs up knew which one was correct. (I think the left lane was the lane that was truly closed.)