software engineer. gamer.

Have you ever approached a door that you thought should be pushed when actually it needed to be pulled? The design elements of the door suggested the wrong functionality. The door pictured above opens into Kansas State University's Cardwell Hall. The flat panel suggests that the door is to be pushed, when actually the door needs to be pulled in order to open. When first encountering this door, I routinely made the mistake of pushing. Lot's of people do. Even when taking the picture above, I witnessed a student attempting to open the door incorrectly. In the design world, this is known as a Norman Door after Don Norman ; cognitive scientist, usability engineer, and author of  The Design of Everyday Things . Encounters with Norman Doors can be frustrating and even embarrassing as you falsely attempt a simple and routine action. But are you at fault or is the design? In The Design of Everyday Things , Don Norman proposes the fault lies not on us but in design that ...

NPR One has become a part of my daily routine. When I wake up in the morning, I tune in as I get ready for work then again when I make it back home to fill the time until dinner. But what is NPR One? Essentially, it's an audio app which provides a continuous stream of all the content NPR has to offer. What's really great about the app, is how it makes public radio personal (as the tag line suggests). The continuous flow of content is tailored for the user. There are two components. First there's the national hourly newscast and local news which play periodically throughout the day. Your local news can be setup by choosing a local station (for me in Manhattan, KS it's great being able to tune into KCUR Kansas City). If you're like me and don't have the app on all day, when you start it up, the app automatically starts with national and local news. The second component is the content which interests you. From news stories to podcasts, as you're fed conten...