The design of everyday things

257 pages

English language

Published Nov. 8, 2002 by Basic Books.

ISBN:
978-0-465-06710-7
Copied ISBN!
Goodreads:
840

View on OpenLibrary

View on Inventaire

(82 reviews)

The Design of Everyday Things is a best-selling book by cognitive scientist and usability engineer Donald Norman about how design serves as the communication between object and user, and how to optimize that conduit of communication in order to make the experience of using the object pleasurable. One of the main premises of the book is that although people are often keen to blame themselves when objects appear to malfunction, it is not the fault of the user but rather the lack of intuitive guidance that should be present in the design.

17 editions

Review of 'The design of everyday things' on 'GoodReads'

Whenever programmers ask other programmers for book suggestions, there's always some smartass that says something like "The Art of War" because of blah blah blah about corporate politics. Hoo boy you're clever, you suggested a non-programming book, way to not play by the rules. You really march to the beat of your own drum there, slick.

Similarly, I constantly see "The Design of Everyday Things" suggested in these kinds of conversations. I think it's supposed to give engineers great insights into design and how humans interact with objects around them. This is supposed to change our outlook for the software we build for people.

Well, I don't think it did that at all. Really, the only thing to take away in that regard is "think about how people use your software". In other words, I think a great many UX-centered books are vastly superior in this regard.

That's not to …

Review of 'The psychology of everyday things' on Goodreads

1) "Would you like a pocket-size device that reminded you of each appointment and daily event? I would. I am waiting for the day when portable computers become small enough that I can keep one with me at all times. I will definitely put all my reminding burdens upon it. It has to be small. It has to be convenient to use. And it has to be relatively powerful, at least by today's standards. It has to have a full, standard typewriter keyboard and a reasonably large display. It needs good graphics, because that makes a tremendous difference in usability, and a lot of memory---a huge amount, actually. And it should be easy to hook up to the telephone; I need to connect it to my home and laboratory computers. Of course, it should be relatively inexpensive."

2) "Much of our knowledge is hidden beneath the survace of our minds, …

Review of 'The design of everyday things' on 'Goodreads'

Over 20 years old now and showing it's age a bit, but the points and principles are still very valid. This is a good book for anyone who makes anything that other people must use, whether it's documentation or computer games or machinery. The author examines factors that make a good, or bad, design and lays out some basic principles to help guide designers.

I didn't give it 5 stars because it's really getting quite dated in parts - especially the parts talking about computers - and they really should gave done a complete updated revision instead of just slapping a preface on the 2002 edition. Also, I did find the author got a bit repetitive; many of the examples were redundant and the book could probably have been slimmed down quite a bit. It would be nice to see a real new edition of this book with updated examples …

avatar for BeachReader

rated it

avatar for jparise

rated it

avatar for timchi

rated it

avatar for esm

rated it

avatar for acdha

rated it

avatar for rcampoamor

rated it

avatar for lucasrizoli

rated it

avatar for aandnota

rated it

avatar for quirk

rated it

avatar for maxbittker

rated it

avatar for mattmcmanus

rated it

avatar for localstatic

rated it

avatar for 5easypieces

rated it

avatar for morachimo

rated it

avatar for arkd

rated it

avatar for Kahoaa

rated it

avatar for gendor

rated it

avatar for ngs

rated it

avatar for ianbishop

rated it

avatar for LuisVilla

rated it

avatar for wakatara

rated it

avatar for chrisamaphone

rated it

avatar for vilhelmr

rated it

avatar for paulralph

rated it

avatar for michele.aiello

rated it

avatar for wiebkehere

rated it

avatar for thebbennett

rated it

avatar for chadkoh

rated it

avatar for joeyh

rated it

avatar for mistertim

rated it

avatar for Slesa

rated it

avatar for stinkingpig

rated it

avatar for teo

rated it

avatar for bion

rated it

avatar for cara-cara

rated it

avatar for marcusosterberg

rated it

avatar for kathrinpassig

rated it

avatar for codito

rated it

avatar for gbraad

rated it

avatar for dfings

rated it

avatar for AudientVoid

rated it

avatar for mellifera

rated it

avatar for DavidLove

rated it

avatar for freshyill

rated it

avatar for lacop

rated it

avatar for kevbot9000

rated it

avatar for lucasgonze

rated it

avatar for Jaldert

rated it

avatar for sorinb

rated it

avatar for fakelvis

rated it

avatar for aaronhktan

rated it

avatar for pneuma

rated it

avatar for thisisfranklin

rated it

avatar for nwale

rated it

avatar for tsukikage

rated it

avatar for esenabre

rated it

avatar for seago

rated it

avatar for pivic

rated it

avatar for jbaty

rated it

avatar for justanotherrandomuser

rated it

avatar for pmcf

rated it

avatar for abon

rated it

avatar for bookit

rated it

avatar for hastur

rated it

avatar for actuallym

rated it

avatar for yatzy

rated it

avatar for yo.ian.g

rated it

avatar for mothlight

rated it

avatar for castellza

rated it

avatar for andyo

rated it

avatar for DaveNash3

rated it

avatar for flarion

rated it

avatar for Classic_Monolith

rated it

avatar for belehaa

rated it

avatar for Bazz

rated it

Subjects

  • Design, Industrial -- Psychological aspects
  • Human engineering