Don Norman

In his Ted Talk, Don Norman tries to understand how beauty and emotions are tied to design. He talks about design, that it should be fun, but not necessarily useful for every object. For example, his juicer is on display on his entry table. He comes up with a theory that has three components; the object should be beautiful, functional, and reflective.

When he talks about the mini cooper, he says that even though the car has faults, he likes the aesthetic and finds it fun to drive. Norman says pleasant things work better. In a psychological experiment, when people were happy they were better at out of the box thinking, and solved the problem. When you’re happy you’re more creative, according to Norman.

You buy things because of the aesthetic, keep things like water vases after they’re done because of their aesthetic.

He says from now on he’ll only say positive things. And I like his views. I think design should make life easier and more enjoyable. Injecting beauty and simplicity into life is a perfect way to make your space happier, to make you happier. Good design is underestimated.