Apple Everyday Keeps Confusion Away

I've had an iPod for quite some time now, close to seven years at this point, but it wasn't until I started to look closer at usability that I noticed just how user friendly it is.  Many people are pretty used to this specific technology by now, but for those that aren't the iPod is a portable MP3/video player.  Of course it has other features, such as games, alarms, calendar, pictures, etc.  Fortunately for consumers it does all of these things very well.

In "The Psychopathology of Everyday Things" one of the points that stood out to me the most was when he discussed the problem of single buttons having multiple functions.  With the iPod there are only five buttons and one sliding key, with all but one of these buttons being clearly marked.  The five buttons have six functions, however, the button with two functions is the easy and convenient play/pause button.  The button that isn't labeled happens to be the "select" button, but due to the design natural mapping easily leads you to conclude that the button dead center of the device would be the one to push if you were trying to select something.  The only feature that might appear to be slightly confusing at first is the scroll function.  In order to scroll you have to drag your finger on the circular button pad, but hey, at least clockwise scrolls forward and counter clockwise scrolls backwards.  For the record, as soon as you turn your iPod on it's almost inevitable that you will immediately figure out the scrolling function.

I agree with Jonathan Lazar in his article "Designing Senior-Friendly Living, or Why Doesn't My Cable Work?" when he touched on the fact that people who aren't tech savvy aren't necessarily afraid of technology, they just want it to be simple and convenient.  Even as a twenty-something who can figure out most technologies, I still get frustrated when products are confusing and not user friendly.  Thank goodness for Apple and their ability to make one of my everyday devices simple, convenient, and very user friendly.  Especially since my dad, who for the record STILL does not own a computer, could figure the iPod out with very little difficulty.  I would definitely say that Apple did an excellent job when they designed this product.  Since the button layout and design hasn't changed from it's original release I'm assuming that other customers feel the same way that I do.  Simplicity, usability, and organization sell.  Just ask Apple.