There are three main points that are made by Norman in this chapter. The first has to do with mostly our underlying biological preferences. It is the concept of visceral design. It has been determined by the evolutionary process. As humans we are attracted to certain thing naturally, such as bright colors, smooth designs and physical appeal. We are programmed to view these things as attractive. The second way of looking at designs relies only on the items usefulness, which is the concept of behavioral design. This idea goes back to our previous reading. The design relies on some of the old concepts of affordance, conceptual models and feedback. These are important because the main point of behavioral design is its function which all of the prior ideas have a role in. This new chapter of Normand is just an expanded way of looking at design. The final type of design is reflective. This idea plays on peoples cultural views. It tells us what we find elegant.
As I sit at my computer, I glance around my room scanning for objects that will fit into these three categories. The first thing that I see I immediately think visceral. It is a very bright colored Faygo pop can. The can is vibrant yellow and green with large bubbly lettering. On the sides of the can it displays words like genuine, twist and has a lemon lime picture. The next thing that I see is my large coffee cup. It is just purely behavioral, with it plain design and color. It is larger than normal coffee cups which affords me to be able to drink more coffee. This cup is very practical but neither elegant nor desirable. I am having a very hard time at first thinking of something in my room that qualifies as reflective. Then I glance at my shoes and see my pair of pumas. I am a skateboarder so what use would I have for a pair of pumas? Let me tell you none really the only reason I bought them was because I considered them to be fashionable. I was with my friend visiting Chicago and we saw them in a store. I did not perceive them to be a reflective item until now. I realize though that the sole reason for my purchase was for the compliments and style that the pumas provided.