Industrial design would be another area. Again, the problem there is to make things that are esthetically appealing and also easy to use, or at least relatively intuitive.

There’s an area of psychology called human factors research. The emphasis in this research is making things useable and safe to use.

A very good writer who covers all of the above is Donald A. Norman. A quick perusal of the Edmonton Public Library catalogue reveals the following books by him:

Emotional design: why we love (or hate) everyday things.

The psychology of everyday things.

Turn signals are the facial expressions of automobiles.

Check out the following web sites as well:

http://www.asktog.com

http://www.useit.com

http://www.jnd.org/index.html

There’s a role out there for someone with an interest in design from an esthetic point of view who can also create designs that are useable by ordinary human beings. This is a fascinating area, and it’s interdisciplinary. Read one of Donald A. Norman’s books and take the time to read through the web sites above.

Hope this gives you an idea.