3 Review(s)

The Design of Everyday Things is a bestselling book by cognitive scientist and usability engineer Donald Norman. This book serves as a powerful manual on how and why some products satisfy the needs of the customer, whereas the others mostly frustrates them.Summary of the BookIn The Design of Everyday Things, the author writes about how design serves as a mode of communication between object and user. The author also provides ways of improving this communication to make the experience of using the object pleasurable. This book was published in 1988 and was initially titled The Psychology of Everyday Things. But later the author and his friends felt that the present title of the book conveyed the content of the book better. One of the major highlights of the book is that although people most often blame themselves when objects malfunction, it is not the fault of the customer but a lack of intuitive guidance which is lacking in the design. The book is packed with case studies which describe the psychology of good and bad designs along with several design principles by the author. This book will make for an interesting read for people from a wide range of disciplines including behavioral psychology, ergonomics, and design practice.About Don NormanDon Norman is an academic in the field of cognitive science, design and usability engineering. He is also a co-founder and consultant with the Nielsen Norman Group. Norman is a distinguished Visiting Professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, where he spends 2 months a year teaching. He also holds the title of Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Science at the University of California. Dr. Norman is also a part of a number of educational, private, and public sector advisory boards including the editorial board of Encyclopædia Britannica. He has authored several books including Living with Complexity.