Turn Signals Are The Facial Expressions Of Automobiles (Paperback)

by Donald A. Norman (Author) "I WENT to a sixth grade play..." (more)
Key Phrases: sixth grade play, speed bugs, perceived affordances, United States, Hofstadter's Law, Lillian Gilbreth (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Mining the territory he explored in The Design of Everyday Things , Norman, in the first third of this entertaining and instructive volume, exposes clumsy design practices in water faucets, doors, stoves, kitchens and the U.S. Post Office's new stamp machine. The examples he cites are sometimes hilarious; for instance, an elevated monorail train in Australia requires a full-time attendant to prevent passengers from putting their tokens in the wrong slot. The rest of the book consists of engaging mini-essays on such topics as the use of refrigerator doors as message centers, the "real time" of computers versus psychological time, automotive signaling and cognitive aids in airplane cockpits. Norman likens design to an evolutionary process, but he maintains that most designers, unfortunately, are enamored of technology and lack empathy with the users of their devices. He serves up an eminently sensible smorgasbord of ideas, critiques and design insights. Illustrated.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Some years ago, Norman founded the Department of Cognitive Science at the University of California, San Diego. In a lifetime of global travel and inquisitive analysis of human foibles, he has written various books and articles on the interaction of people and technology. Norman is troubled about "the dehumanizing nature of modern technology." Although he is not anti-machine, Norman is concerned that engineers often market technology with little regard for the consumers who will have to interact with hardware as the product. Writing clearly with humor and arresting insights, Norman analyzes such diverse topics as refrigerators as message centers in the home and pilots who place empty coffee cups over certain switches to avoid cockpit errors. Recommended.
- Roger Bilstein, Univ. of Houston-Clear Lake
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (May 20, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 020162236X
• ISBN-13: 978-0201622362
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,233,863 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A mixed bag, September 18, 2002

By	Glen Engel Cox "www.engel-cox.org" (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Turn Signals Are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles (Hardcover)

I liked The Psychology of Everyday Things so much that I picked this latest volume of Norman's up when I saw it in the store. Unlike POET, which was one long thesis on psychology and design, Turn Signals is a collection of essays on those topics. As such, it lacks the coherence of POET, but gains emphasis by focusing on specific topics covered only slightly in POET. First off, Norman relates how the title for POET has been changed to The Design of Everyday Things, because of a misconception in what the book was about and who the book was for, exactly the kind of common mistake that he was attempting to expose in the book. Then he moves on to topics like the design of airplane cockpits, the use of book jackets in libraries, using the refrigerator door as a message center, the electronic personal assistant, as well as the title essay on clues that we receive from other people versus clues we receive from machines. I like Norman, and his topic, and will be on the lookout for his other book, Things that Make Us Smart.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Essays on People and Technology, August 2, 2000

By	Jyrki J.J. Kasvi (Espoo FINLAND) - See all my reviews

Professor Norman is one heck of a writer. I almost forgot to go to bed one night due to voraciously reading this book. Only the running out of the four candles that gave me light to read on the unelectrified summer cottage alerted me to the fact that it was well past two o'clock in the morning and it would be advisable to catch some shuteye. And TSAFEA is not Donald A. Norman's best book by far. Actually this book has been edited from essays and common sense columns written by Professor Norman and most of the issues are already familiar from the Psychology of Everyday Things and Things That Make Us Smart. Nevertheless I will be more than happy to recommend this book for my software designer friends in the future.

The most interesting chapters discuss social characteristics of machines and how a machine and its user, for example a car and its driver, form a (social) unit.

8 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Crossed signals, August 6, 1997

By A Customer

Support your hardworking local semioticians -- and don't buy this book. Donald Norman needs to learn the difference between a few 3x5 cards' worth of lecture quips and an actual, fleshed-out, sustained literary effort. He has some very alluring ideas here about how symbolism works in modern society, and apparently he thought that was enough to write and sell a book. Let's do him a favor to keep his next book from stumbling into remaindered-land, and ask him for some discipline and depth next time