{"id":8469,"date":"2019-03-12T13:15:58","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.brainstation.io\/?p=8469"},"modified":"2020-05-20T18:08:15","modified_gmt":"2020-05-20T22:08:15","slug":"user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss","title":{"rendered":"User Experience Design Lessons from Henry Dreyfuss"},"content":{"rendered":"

If TED Talks existed sixty years ago, industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss might have been racking up YouTube views and leading the user-centered design revolution. <\/span><\/p>\n

Although it wasn\u2019t until the early 90s when the term \u201cuser experience\u201d was coined, in his 1955 book <\/span>Designing for the People<\/span><\/i>, Dreyfuss wrote, \u201cIf the point of contact between the product and people becomes a point of friction, then the designer has failed. On the other hand if people are made safer, more comfortable, more eager to purchase…then the designer has succeeded.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Dreyfuss\u2019 words can be used to describe the booming field of user experience design today, along with many of the ideas and design principles he wrote about. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how today\u2019s UX designers can follow Dreyfuss\u2019 timeless tips about how to create products that are all about the user. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Icon\"<\/div>\n
\n

Become a UX Designer in just 12 weeks!<\/p>\n

BrainStation’s User Experience Diploma Program<\/a> is a full-time, 12-week program that equips professionals with the skills and experience to start a new career in design.<\/p>\n

Speak to a Learning Advisor<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Client Isn\u2019t Always Right <\/b><\/h3>\n

In the 1930s Bell hosted a competition to redesign their telephone, but wasn\u2019t planning on giving contestants access to clients (the users) or engineers.<\/span> Dreyfuss was interested but refused to participate unless he could do what we would now call user research so that he could design the telephone \u201cfrom the inside out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bell eventually agreed and Dreyfuss was able to visit customer\u2019s homes on repair calls. The result was the <\/span>Dreyfuss Model 302<\/span><\/a>, a design success that had staying power for 30 years and is still recognizable and even <\/span>recreated today<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Henry

Source: IDSA<\/p><\/div>\n

Dreyfuss knew he couldn\u2019t do his job without access to the end user, product engineers, and customer service support staff. Dreyfuss didn\u2019t cut corners when it comes to the research and design process, and as a result established a reputation as a designer who could boost profits for businesses, which was a new idea at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

UX designers can follow Dreyfuss\u2019 lead by setting setting clear expectations around time and resources needed for user research before beginning a project. If the client isn\u2019t on the same page, go back to square one and explain the importance of user research, or move onto the next project. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Identify the Obvious<\/b><\/h3>\n

When Dreyfuss worked on an airplane interior design project, he assigned staff to ride a jet and take notes about what they observed. Researchers found that passengers in an unfamiliar environment (air travel was relatively new at the time) made some interesting assumptions, like putting mail into air conditioner slots or reports from flight attendance that \u201cbabies are sometimes tucked into the overhead rack.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hopefully you haven\u2019t witnessed anything similar, but most people who\u2019ve been on an airplane have fumbled with a bathroom door handle or overhead light. The lesson here, according to Dreyfuss, is that design should be obvious at the expense of originality. <\/span><\/p>\n

Make door handles look like door handles and light switches look like light switches. Part of the role is of the UX designer is to identify what the user understands as obvious and make design decisions around that knowledge, rather than identifying what\u2019s obvious and trying to come up with something new or impressive. <\/span><\/p>\n

When \u2018When\u2019 Overrides \u2018Why\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n

Whenever Dreyfuss had downtime while travelling, he walked through local department stores to get a feel for who was buying what and why. <\/span><\/p>\n

What he found was that the \u201cwhy\u201d often doesn\u2019t make sense and that \u201cwhen is a key word\u201d when understanding what the user wants. For example, Dreyfuss wrote about a customer who was buying a clock. Dreyfuss watched the customer weigh two clocks and decide to go with the heavier model because, at the time, weight was a sign of quality (the lighter clock was designed to be lighter). <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Icon\"<\/div>\n
\n

Learn design skills to boost your career \u2013 from home!<\/p>\n

BrainStation offers Online Live Certificate Courses<\/a> in UX design, UI design, and design thinking. Attend live classes and interact with peers and expert Instructors from anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

Speak to a Learning Advisor<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In another example, Dreyfuss writes about the 1936 Chrysler Airflow, which was revolutionary at the time because of its aerodynamic design and improved handling. Although it was a better car, the project failed \u2014 no one wanted the car because it was \u201cso far ahead of the public that it was out of sight.\u201d After the failure of the Airflow, car manufacturers disguised good design with wings, disks and shiny bands that customers were used to. <\/span><\/p>\n

Faster, newer or lighter isn\u2019t always what the user wants when it comes time to make a purchase. <\/span><\/p>\n

The lesson here is to take into account the emotional elements of design and shopping when doing and analyzing user experience research. A user\u2019s habits and social expectations play a big role in determining what they want out of a product, sometimes at the expense of technically good design. <\/span><\/p>\n

Interested in learning more about UX? Check out what <\/span><\/i>skills a UX Designer needs<\/span><\/i><\/a> and find more out more about BrainStation\u2019s <\/span><\/i>UX Design courses<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Timeless design lessons from Henry Dreyfuss, the pioneer of user-centred design. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":8473,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[336,157],"tags":[803,272,546],"yoast_head":"\nUser Experience Design Lessons from Henry Dreyfuss | BrainStation\u00ae Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Henry Dreyfuss was focused on designing for the people before the term "user experience design" was ever coined. Here we share some timeless design lessons from the pioneer of user-centred design.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"User Experience Design Lessons from Henry Dreyfuss | BrainStation\u00ae Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Henry Dreyfuss was focused on designing for the people before the term "user experience design" was ever coined. Here we share some timeless design lessons from the pioneer of user-centred design.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BrainStation\u00ae Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-12T17:15:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-20T22:08:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/helloquence-61190-unsplash.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1160\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"BrainStation\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"BrainStation\u00ae Blog\",\"description\":\"The Digital Learning Company\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/helloquence-61190-unsplash.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/helloquence-61190-unsplash.jpg\",\"width\":1160,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"user research\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss\",\"name\":\"User Experience Design Lessons from Henry Dreyfuss | BrainStation\u00ae Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-12T17:15:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-20T22:08:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9f37983a6c4da6cf5dd422481ac8cf11\"},\"description\":\"Henry Dreyfuss was focused on designing for the people before the term \\\"user experience design\\\" was ever coined. Here we share some timeless design lessons from the pioneer of user-centred design.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"User Experience Design Lessons from Henry Dreyfuss\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9f37983a6c4da6cf5dd422481ac8cf11\",\"name\":\"BrainStation\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80c14b8388838ae1453aec36606b232d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80c14b8388838ae1453aec36606b232d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"BrainStation\"},\"description\":\"BrainStation is a global leader in digital skills training, empowering businesses and brands to succeed in the digital age. Established in 2012, BrainStation has worked with over 250 instructors from the most innovative companies, developing cutting-edge, real-world digital education that has empowered more than 50,000 professionals and some of the largest corporations in the world.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/author\/brainstation\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"User Experience Design Lessons from Henry Dreyfuss | BrainStation\u00ae Blog","description":"Henry Dreyfuss was focused on designing for the people before the term \"user experience design\" was ever coined. Here we share some timeless design lessons from the pioneer of user-centred design.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"User Experience Design Lessons from Henry Dreyfuss | BrainStation\u00ae Blog","og_description":"Henry Dreyfuss was focused on designing for the people before the term \"user experience design\" was ever coined. Here we share some timeless design lessons from the pioneer of user-centred design.","og_url":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss","og_site_name":"BrainStation\u00ae Blog","article_published_time":"2019-03-12T17:15:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-20T22:08:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1160,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/helloquence-61190-unsplash.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"BrainStation","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/","name":"BrainStation\u00ae Blog","description":"The Digital Learning Company","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/helloquence-61190-unsplash.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/helloquence-61190-unsplash.jpg","width":1160,"height":400,"caption":"user research"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss#webpage","url":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss","name":"User Experience Design Lessons from Henry Dreyfuss | BrainStation\u00ae Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2019-03-12T17:15:58+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-20T22:08:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9f37983a6c4da6cf5dd422481ac8cf11"},"description":"Henry Dreyfuss was focused on designing for the people before the term \"user experience design\" was ever coined. Here we share some timeless design lessons from the pioneer of user-centred design.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/user-experience-design-lessons-from-henry-dreyfuss#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"User Experience Design Lessons from Henry Dreyfuss"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9f37983a6c4da6cf5dd422481ac8cf11","name":"BrainStation","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80c14b8388838ae1453aec36606b232d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80c14b8388838ae1453aec36606b232d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"BrainStation"},"description":"BrainStation is a global leader in digital skills training, empowering businesses and brands to succeed in the digital age. Established in 2012, BrainStation has worked with over 250 instructors from the most innovative companies, developing cutting-edge, real-world digital education that has empowered more than 50,000 professionals and some of the largest corporations in the world.","url":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/author\/brainstation"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8469"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8469"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11795,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8469\/revisions\/11795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}