Norman Doors : To push or to pull

A Norman door is a poorly designed door that confuses or fails to give you an idea whether to push or pull. It was named after Don Norman, the author of The Design of Everyday Things which explored the phenomenon.

I am sure everyone has experienced the silent embarrassment of struggling to push open a door, only to realise it is clearly marked “Pull”? It isn’t your fault though, its the designer’s. In fact, if you and other people continually get it wrong, it’s a good sign that it’s a really bad door.

According to Norman, doors shouldn’t have “Push” or “Pull” signs on them. Instead, the design of the door should be such that it is obvious for people to know whether to push, pull or slide the door.

So how to make non-confusing doors ?

Norman explains two principles of design that make objects, including doors, more intuitive to use.

1. Discoverability

It means that just by looking at the door, you should be able to what you could do with it. So a door with only a flap would be more intuitively interpreted as something you push on rather than pull.

2. Feedback

A well-designed product should also provide you feedback while using it.
Feedback is some sort of indication that something happened. It tells whether there was a change or not, or whether your action succeeded or failed. In the case of doors, the twistable knobs would signal to you whether the door is locked or not.

So next time, you fail to open a door in the first try, don’t feel embarrassed because now you know whose fault it actually is.