The Design of Everyday Things

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	745.2 No	4-week checkout	Due 05-12-2024
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Art / Design / Norman, Donald A.	4-week checkout	Due 05-03-2024
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Art / Design / Norman, Donald A	4-week checkout	Due 05-07-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Art / Design / Norman, Donald A.	4-week checkout	Due 05-11-2024

The psychopathology of everyday things -- The psychology of everyday actions -- Knowledge in the head and in the world -- Knowing what to do : constraints, discoverability and feedback -- Human error? no, bad design -- Design thinking -- Design in the world of business.
"Even the smartest among us can feel inept as we fail to figure out which light switch or oven burner to turn on, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door. The fault, argues this ingenious-even liberating-book, lies not in ourselves, but in product design that ignores the needs of users and the principles of cognitive psychology. The problems range from ambiguous and hidden controls to arbitrary relationships between controls and functions, coupled with a lack of feedback or other assistance and unreasonable demands on memorization. The Design of Everyday Things shows that good, usable design is possible. The rules are simple: make things visible, exploit natural relationships that couple function and control, and make intelligent use of constraints. The goal: guide the user effortlessly to the right action on the right control at the right time. In this entertaining and insightful analysis, cognitive scientist Don Norman hails excellence of design as the most important key to regaining the competitive edge in influencing consumer behavior. Now fully expanded and updated, with a new introduction by the author, The Design of Everyday Things is a powerful primer on how-and why-some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them. "-- Provided by publisher.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

CHOICE Review
Summary / Annotation
Table of Contents
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Good book submitted by karenkay on July 31, 2019, 3:34pm This book was originally published in 1988 and it still makes sense. The first chapter about the author being known for having difficulty with doors is amusing.

Interesting material, updated version well worth a read submitted by Bakalm on July 27, 2021, 11:41am Disclaimer: I read the updated version on Overdrive digitally, but the material was fascinating and much of the book seemed timeless. Amusing anecdotes and necessary engineering combine into an in-depth read.