Thoughtless Acts?: Observations on Intuitive Design

by Jane Fulton Suri, IDEO

From IDEO, the global innovation and design firm responsible for such landmark products as Apple's first computer mouse, comes a primer in the observation method that keeps their practice human-centered and ever ingenious. People unconsciously perform ultraordinary actions every day, from throwing a jacket over a chair back to claim the seat, or placing something in the teeth when all hands are full. These "thoughtless acts" reveal the subtle but crucial ways people behave in a world not always perfectly tailored to their needs. Thoughtless Acts? is a collection of dozens of (often humorous) snapshots capturing such fleeting adaptations and minor exploitations. This method of observation demonstrates the kind of common-sense approach that can inspire designers and anyone involved in creative endeavors. Thoughtless Acts? is a privileged peek at how IDEO creates the people-friendly products, services, and spaces for which they are so widely recognized.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Creative, Art Design, Art

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2005

Reviews

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you were to pick up this book with no expectations, you would be greatly disappointed. 90% of the book is pictures, photographs loosely divided into categories to show item is use. The remaining 10% covers the inspiration and use of the book, with the author's interpretations of the earlier photographs.

Where this book shines is when you approach it in need of inspiration. When you are lacking in new ideas, a quick glance through this book can grant you a new look on the world we interact with, not just by examples within the pages themselves (which are, on their own, open to interpretation beyond what the author gives at the back) but also in your day to day life. I found myself noticing lots of "thoughtlesss acts" the afternoon after going through this, acts I would have otherwise ignored.

The examples highlight the small ways in which people mis-use the environment around them, or more accurately use it for purposes it was not intended for. By presenting a collection of clear and not so clear examples, it trains your mind to notice these events on your own.

I would not say this is a book you should rush out and buy. Have a look at the thoughtless acts website, borrow it from someone or grab a copy from the library, but unless you really want a copy on hand it is not really required. A useful book for the occasional reference, and good for getting you thinking about the way things are designed, but not a "must read" ( or view, for the photographs I guess).

[Tiffany Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reacting
Responding
Co-opting
Exploiting
Adapting
Conforming
Signaling

[Nathanael Coyne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tiny photo album that you can flip through in about 5 minutes although I do recommend you read Jane's thoughts at the end of the book. Though brief, this book is an fantastic lens into the oddity of human behaviour (and unexploited design opportunities). I'm sure there'll be a few scenes in this book where you'll go "OMG other people do that too?". Not sure how practical this book is but I'm sure it'll come in handy as a thought starter, to look to for inspiration and get yourself into the designer's mindset. You'll probably come up with dozens of product or architecture ideas as you go through this book - not that you'll implement any of them, it's just good to get your mind fired up.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the cover design of the Japanese edition.
Also, I picked this book up at the library because I recognized the translator's name.

But I'm not a designer or an architect. So I think most of the stuff in this book went over my head.
I simply enjoyed watching all the photos from around the world that I'm familiar with (mostly from US, Japan, and UK) i.e. Ferry building, Covent Garden, Peet's Coffee, Starbucks cup with an old logo, photos from Japan (looked like they're the 2000s), London Tube, Japanese trains, SFMOMA and many more.

I wonder why and how this author took these photos. Did she take these with this book in her mind? or did she collected these photos from her album afterward?

I don't hate the book, but I don't get it.

[Kshipra Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is more of a coffee table book, which you could finish in an hour. But the pictures are thought provoking, and would make you probe your daily actions with more insight. Loved it.

[Earl Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

IDEO fascinates me organizationally. I love how they approach design, both as a product for their clients and as a lived-out value for their employees.

This book has no words, and is smaller than a paperback book - more like the size of a small Moleskine journal. It is also beautiful, both in a design execution aspect and in its tactile sense.

As you "read" it - going through the pictures, page by page, you will see the connective floe of them, and how one leads to an aspect of another, and how the common aspects morph and change as the move through the photographs.

This is one that I read/look at often - for inspiration, mostly, and to encounter the beauty of connectivity in a fresh way.

From the inside cover: "There is no definitive interpretation of the observations here or in the outside world. The value is in the looking."

Yes.

Buy this and journey through it often.

NOTE: Goodreads has it listed incorrectly, as a paperback. It is most definitely a hardback, and it is one of those rare, and always appreciated, books with a very interesting tactile feel.

[Robbie Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book by designers, for designers...
Ok maybe for real people as well as design heads but as a student this was one of the fantastic books which first opened my mind to what product design means to the people who it benefits.

It's a collection of observational photographs detailing the use, miss-use and adaption of the civilised world we've made for ourselves. E.g. Simple innovation such as; plastic bags taped on parking meters to show they are out of order, a claw hammer used as a door stop or the explosive and sporadic use of postits.

A well explained, simple and neat piece of anthropology both design and social. For anyone interested in the patterns of people.

[DeAnna Knippling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't a book explaining anything. It's a series of photos along with just a few things for you to think about, then a short essay and photo captions - it's more like a short course on observing design than it is a book. It's hard to explain. A Zen design book?

At any rate, it's giving me all kinds of ideas, and I feel like I've only just scratched the surface with my first read. I love the way the book's put together, too - the spine is exposed, yet it has hard covers. Very tactile.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally got around to reading the book (instead of flipping through it); and it is a good one if one sits with it a while in reflective practice. Yes for courses.

Do need to look at the original source for the word "affordance": James Gibson, The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception 1979.
"we perceive the environment in terms of its possibilities for actions—in other words what objects or spaces 'afford.' [170]

reacting responding co-opting exploiting adapting conforming signaling

[Louise Wylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

To get the most out of this book, it would be helpful to know something about IDEO and their approach to design.

This book is not a teaching tool, more of a springboard for your own ethnography and research ideas. All in all, I found it to be an interesting little book and would recommend it for a flick through.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the ideas presented in this book – pictures depicting everyday, automatic, and unconscious behavior, and the design ideas that stem from them. The pictures tell stories, and I wish that there were more of them in the book.

[Carmen Long · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't get it. I bought it for 10 cents at a discount store just to tear it apart and use the pictures in various artwork. Maybe that makes me a bad person, but there you go.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

$35 for this? Not even worth the $20 I paid for it. Kinda neat, but NOT worth more than $10. $12 tops.

[Vikna]

Creative ... thought stimulation

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

After attending a lecture by Suri, I couldn't resist buying this book. Her explorations of strategic and tactical design are nothing short of enlightening.

[David Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought-provoking collection of images. Prompts you to consider and appreciate your surroundings more closely.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

So satisfying to read something that is the way I view the world daily.