Designing for the User — a Look in History

Catherine Beecher was very instrumental in the design of the modern American home. The male conception of the home was primarily visual, not practical. Since women were the ones most in the house and did the work themselves (in America servants were not too common), she singled out “economy of labor” as the FIRST consideration of the home.

She highlighted what a lot of the advancements of the 1900’s brought-ease of use (not necessarily much quicker), but easier to do. Her designed houses were much smaller and consolidated. Until that point, the 19th century associated comfort with spaciousness and the idea of living in a reduced area was at first difficult for most people to accept.

With efficiency in mind, Frederick Taylor’s Scientific Management theories (from the factory-line) were applied to home tasks and productivity. That cabinets are an appropriate height and in proximity to the countertop are things we take for granted, but were major breakthroughs at the time.

“Beecher was expressing a point of view that had not been heard since the 17th century in Holland-that of the user. This was the prime characteristic of American domesticity-it was seen through the eyes of persons who worked in the home, that is thought the eyes of women.” — Home: A Short History of an Idea: Witold Rybczynski

Reading about this breakthrough in home design was fascinating to me. In User Experience, designing for the user seems to be often taken for granted but this has not always been the case (and you don’t need to go back 100 years to see this either). No matter the product or service, identifying “The User” is an essential first step in creating a positive and helpful user experience.

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