Design in Malaysia
Have you seen banners which printed faces of politician as many as in Malaysia elsewhere in the world? Not that I am an anti-government but I am an anti-unusable designs. The picture here shows how banner design takes on political significance and the implications of the conscious manipulation of that design affects severe drawbacks. Not everyone agrees on the appropriate goals of the designers. Why do they need to put politician faces on the wall? I think, this is an unhealthy intention to impress people in political power. In Malaysia, usability is not the primary criterion in the marketing sectors. Malaysian are surrounded with objects or designs that lead to horror accidents for example road maps, condition of the roads and sign boards. Errors are an unavoidable part of everyday life (Source: Norman, 1998). According to Norman, proper design can help decrease the incidence and severity of errors by eliminating the causes of some, minimizing the possibilities of others, and helping to make errors discoverable, once they have been made. We do not have to experience confusion or suffer from undiscovered errors. Proper design can make a difference in our quality of life.
Now you are on your own. If you are a designer, help fight the battle for usability and aesthetic design. If you are a user, then, join your voice with me and those who cry for usable products. I don’t think Malaysia have any channel to voice out their suffers to manufacturers. This will be the beginning towards a human-centered channel in Malaysia. Boycott unusable designs! Let’s begin by enjoying yourself, walk around Malaysia examining the details of design. Take pride in the little things that help; think kindly of the person who so thoughtfully put them in. Realize that even details matter, that the designer may have had to fight to include something helpful.
This video was presented by Azmie (Final year Multimedia student semester 1 2009/2010) during HCI class. We had so much fun. It was such a great moment to realize that the students were able to evaluate poorly designed things around them.
