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Donald A. Norman

The Design of Everyday Things Paperback – February 1, 1990

by Donald Norman (Author)

1,480 ratings

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A popular, entertaining, and insightful analysis of why some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them.
B & W photographs and illustrations throughout.

Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Doubleday Business
Publication date

February 1, 1990
Dimensions

5.25 x 1 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

0385267746
ISBN-13

978-0385267748
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Anyone who designs anything to be used by humans--from physical objects to computer programs to conceptual tools--must read this book, and it is an equally tremendous read for anyone who has to use anything created by another human. It could forever change how you experience and interact with your physical surroundings, open your eyes to the perversity of bad design and the desirability of good design, and raise your expectations about how things should be designed.

Review

"This book is a joy -- fun and of the utmost importance." -- Tom Peters. -- Review

...makes a strong case for the needlessness of badly conceived and badly designed everyday objects...[T]his book may herald the beginning of a change in user habits and expectations, a change that manufacturers would be obliged to respond to. Button pushers of the world, unite. -- Los Angeles Times

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Doubleday Business (February 1, 1990)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0385267746
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0385267748
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 1 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #481,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #237 in Environmental Engineering (Books)
- #661 in Medical Cognitive Psychology
- #729 in Environmental Economics (Books)

Customer Reviews:
1,480 ratings

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Donald A. Norman

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Don Norman is a voyeur, always watching, always on the lookout for some common-day occurrence that everyone else takes for granted but that when examined, yields insight into the human condition. (If you are rushing to catch a train, how do you know if you got to the station on time? Empty platform? You probably are too late. People milling about, looking at their watches,peering down the tracks? Probably OK. Who needs technology when people are so informative, even if as an accidental byproduct of their activities.

Business Week has named him one of "the world's most influential designers," the influence from his books, essasys, courses and students, lectures, and consulting.

He takes special delight in the interaction of people and technology. "Develop the skill of observation," he councils: especially pay attention to the obvious. "Question the obvious and you will dis cover many hidden insights. What seems to be obvious often is not."

He is a fellow of many organizations and former lots of things, including VP at Apple Computer and even President of a startup. He has honorary degrees from the University of Padua (Italy) and the Technical University Delft (the Netherlands). He was awarded the Benjamin Franklin medal in Computer and Cognitive Science and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is known for his books "The Design of Everyday Things," "Emotional Design," and "The Design of Future Things," but he is most proud of his students, now all over the world, who put into practice his human-centered design philosophy. his latest book is "Living with Complexity," which argues that complexity is necessary: Our tools must match our tasks. When people cry out for simplicity, they are wrong -- people want understanding. That is not the same as simplicity -- simple thing are often the most confusing.

He is currently revising "Design of Everyday Things" to keep the message the same but update the examples. Expected publication date is August 2013.

He lives at www.jnd.org, where you can find chapters from his books and loads of essays.

Customer reviews

5 star		71%
4 star		16%
3 star		6%
2 star		3%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Peter Chen

Great High-Level Thinking

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 23, 2013

Verified Purchase

The book condition and seller were great.

The book itself provided great perspective and challenges the reader to look at everyday things from a good/bad design point of view. Norman also gives design guidelines (e.g., natural mappings, visibility, feedback etc) that the reader can focus on an implement when designing.

The book was not so good in terms of organization and consistency. Ironically the book is about good design, but the layout is lacking. First level headings are in Initial caps and aligned right, while second level headings are in all caps and aligned left. Third level headings are also all caps (with smaller font size) and aligned left. In general, I believe all caps are thought to be "bigger" and should be the first level headings and second level headings should use initial caps and third level should use initial caps and italics. I think this, at least now, is a typical cultural convention as well. If I saw only an outline of the book with all the different headings, I think the organization could be improved.

In terms of consistency, throughout the book he talks about design principles, things to keep in mind, and evaluates items back to his ideal design elements. However, that list isn't described consistently. In the 2002 preface (p.xi) the list of design principles include: conceptual models, feedback, constraints, and affordances. On p.4 Norman introduces the principle of visibility. On p.23 Norman introduces the principle of mapping. Visibility and mapping are related to conceptual models, but should not be identified as a "principle" or should have been included in the list of principles on p.xi. Norman defines his credo on p.36 for errors, which is great, but, in my opinion, should be included as a design principle. Throughout the book Norman gives examples and relates the design to the principles he's outlined, but only to some of them and not all.

To improve this read, I would recommend: (1) revise the organization and layout; a good and "symetrical" outline would greatly improve readability and would better convey the "conceptual model" of Norman's message, (2) revise the formatting of the heading levels, (3) formulate a complete list of design principles at the beginning of the book, (4) for each example, evaluate the design with respect to all of the design principles, not just some of them

3 people found this helpful

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jordychrist

Book looks great!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 18, 2022

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Came right when it said it would and the book was in great shape!

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Yellow Cat

May or may not appeal to you (minor spoilers, but only in the first ch)

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 17, 2015

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If your a graphic designer that is mostly interested in typography and layout, you may not find this book "useful" but more as something that might be interesting to know; its more about the theory of how the practical "design" of objects and systems are important for developing a product.

*spoiler*I like the references of how having little icons in your car to tell you what does what to be important and revolutionary and I liked the explanation of how telephones evolved because of the buttons design and tweeks to the system. *spoiler*

This is an excellent book to read and learn a thing or two about practical designs that are user friendly. If your a designer that likes designing info graphics, icons and diagrams this could be enlightening. This is an excellent book for product and software designers and developers. Other design areas such as making ads and page layouts may not be relevant since it's conceptual more than practical, but...as creative people, it's better to know a little of everything to get inspiration.

Back to the book: Would I recommend it to fellow graphic designers? Yes! But it's a bit dense (hence 4 stars)and may not apply to conceptual designers. I lost interest after one chapter, so it may not be for everyone. Though, after writing this review I feel bad about not giving it another chance. I could learn alot from it.

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Nora McDougall

"Required Reading" that became a favorite

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 24, 2009

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It's not often that a book you are required to read for a college course becomes a favorite, but this one did. In fact, today I did a Google search for "norman door." Sure enough, Google has it cataloged. I even found a discussion on the term on a blog site. Even when the name of the book slips my mind, that term sticks. I Googled it because my copy of the book is packed away in a storage unit somewhere from two moves, and it's cheaper to buy another copy than spending 3 hours digging through boxes.

The ironic thing about this book being "required" is that it was requried for a masters level computer science user interface class at the University of Montana. It was the only textbook for the course, about 1/10 the price of normal textbooks and about 1/10 as heavy as normal textbooks. But the ideas are so very relevant. I will be recommending it to my own web development students, even though the book isn't about web development.

By the way, has anyone out there found any Norman signs lately? The Missoula Federal Credit Union has a sign touting their Saturday hours. Unfortunately, the sign failed to mention that that doesn't apply to Saturday on Memorial Day Weekend! Maybe they should read the book!

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Brian L. Donat

Light Read, Dated, but Still Applicable.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 2, 2010

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The authors of HCI, Human Computer Interface, Dix, Finlay, Abowd and Beale, recommend this book in their early chapters. The recommend was taken to heart and the book was purchased. It's a small pocket book sized tome and may be considered pertinent, but light reading. It begins humorously, but within the first two chapters, the message of the work begins to get hammered in. It'll be a new concept some, - information in the world as compared to information in the head. There's a lot of basic HMI/HCI/Human Factors type stuff as related to user interface failures and successes. It's a sort of philosophical approach to interface design ideology in layman's language with examples and analogues. Pack this book into the brief case, the back pack or whatever, and read it while at the beach, on the bus or between more detailed knowledge seeking excursions. Take a break and absorb some reflection on pertinent interface design philosophy and then jump back into the tough stuff. Yes, it's light reading. But it's valuable light reading. The message and import are worth the journey.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Douglas F.

Good but let down by technical language and poor photos

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 27, 2020

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This book is a classic in its field but ... The picture quality throughout his printing is terrible, the photos are small, low resolution and in black and white so you really have to peer at them to understand what is being shown / discussed. Not great for a book about design. Whilst this updated version has lots of new content it uses fairly technical language and isn’t a book that you just flow through it feels more like an effort to read it. It’s a good book but one you must want to read

5 people found this helpful

AMG

Good book Bad printing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 5, 2022

Verified Purchase

The book is very good but the paper is so thin it shows text through from the page overleaf making it all look fuzzy & slightly out if focus. The paper is also too porous. I do not have sweaty hnds but holding the Right hand page as I read (my style) left indents in the paper. Very poor quality for an expensive paperback.

One person found this helpful

Kiteman

Fascinating!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 16, 2021

Verified Purchase

I bought this because I'm moving my teaching towards a design focus (I'm sick of seeing my workshop filled with dozens of identical projects!), and this book is fascinating. It's definitely going to take two reads to get the full message from it.

But, generally, if you find yourself getting frustrated by the made world around you - doors you can't find, taps that turn the wrong way - this is the book for you.

One person found this helpful

Elliotfinch

Great

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 20, 2022

Verified Purchase

This is a really good, and inciteful book about the psychology of how we interact with things in our day to day.
If you're designing anything that will be used by a human (like most things), I think this book is a must read.
It has subtly changed the way I think when designing something.

I'm not really one for reading. But I have read this twice, and got the audio book.

Maarten de Vries

I can understand why it's a "must read" for designers

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 30, 2010

Verified Purchase

This book is obviously about design and everyday things, like doors, taps and electr(on)ic equipment, but it's also about psychology and not so everyday things, like museums, aircraft and nuclear power plants etc. If you're only mildly interested in these topics, then this book might be a bit "heavy" for you, but if you're really interested in them, it's a classic, that is on the mandatory reading list of many design schools. Personally, I originally wanted to be a car designer, so I really enjoyed it! In fact, from now on, I think I will remember this book, every time I encounter things that are designed very well, or very badly!

Basically, the book is an almost emotional plea for design, based on usability, as opposed to aesthetics (the statement "it probably won a design prize" is not a compliment in this book!) and cost (of materials, manufacturing etc). These factors are also important, but they matter more to the manufacturers and the (often corporate) customers of the product, than the ultimate user, and what's the *use* of a product that the user doesn't know how to use?

Designing for usability is probably more complex than you think, even for something as small and seemingly simple as a ballpoint pen. We could overcome this complexity if we could learn from our mistakes, but the multiple forces of a competitive market often prevent this process of evolutionary design. As a result, the same mistakes get made over and over again, and new ones are constantly added too, often on the back of new technologies, which are actually supposed to make our lives easier! Norman calls this "the paradox of technology".

To overcome this, Norman proposes "seven principles for transforming difficult tasks into simple ones":

1. "Use both knowledge in the world and knowledge in the head." The design of the object should help the user to form a good "conceptual model" or "mental map" of how it works, preferably without instruction labels (if it needs them, it's probably not designed very well) or the user manual, because most users don't read them anyway. A great example of an often misunderstood object is the thermostat. Many people don't understand that this is a simple on/off switch with a single speed. If they want to heat up a room asap, they turn the thermostat to the maximum temperature, but this doesn't make it go any faster. On the contrary, you risk overheating the room and having to cool it down again!
2. "Simplify the structure of tasks." Don't rely on the user to remember too many things at once, because our memory is limited.
3. "Make things visible: bridge the gulfs of Execution and Evaluation." Make it obvious which actions the user can/should take, and provide feedback when he/she has taken that action.
4. "Get the mappings right." The left switch is for the left light, the right switch is for the right one.
5. "Exploit the power of constraints, both natural and artificial." If you don't want people to insert the battery the wrong way, then make sure it doesn't fit that way. This is a physical constraint, but there are also semantic, cultural and logical ones.
6. "Design for error." Errors are not bad, they are normal! Design things in such a way that trivial errors are easily reversed ("undo") and serious errors are avoided in the first place.
7. "When all else fails, standardize." Think of the round clock-face, the QWERTY keyboard, turn a screw clockwise to tighten it etc.

The other thing I found really interesting was the relationship between usability and aesthetics. On one hand, something that looks very complicated probably isn't very easy to use, but on the other hand, "easy looking is not necessarily easy to use (...) We found that to make something easy to use, match the number of controls to the number of functions and organize the panels according to function. To make something look like it is easy, minimize the number of controls. How can these conflicting requirements be met simultaneously? Hide the controls not being used at the moment. By using a panel on which only the relevant controls are visible, you minimize the appearance of complexity. By having a separate control for each function, you minimize the complexity of use. It is possible to eat your cake and have it, too." This is one of the things Bang & Olufsen does very well, for example, and Normal actually uses an example of B&O in the book.

In summary, I can understand why this is a "must read" for designers, even though it was originally published back in 1988, because the seven principles are basically timeless. My only "buts" are:

1. I think the book could have been structured more clearly, which is of course ironic, considering it's a book about design and it actually includes a discussion about the structuring of writing material! I sometimes got a little bit "lost" in the text and I would have preferred to see the seven principles in the table of contents. A bit dull maybe, but very usable ;o)

2. I would love to see Norman apply his principles to some of the new technologies that have appeared and gone mainsteam between then and now. I've just found his follow-up book, called The Design of Future Things , but I'm not sure that's quite what I had in mind ;o)

Your comments are welcome!

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