The Design of Everyday Things
Don Norman • 1988
In Short
A cognitive scientist emphasizes the designer’s responsibility in making everyday things usable and understandable for people.
In Depth
Who's the author?
Don Norman is a well-known usability advocate, author, and professor of psychology, cognitive science, and computer science. He has worked at Apple and HP and co-founded the Nielsen Norman Group, a usability consultancy. He has served as a faculty member at University of California San Diego, Harvard University, and Northwestern University.
What's the intention?
Norman wants to shift the way design is practiced towards a user-centric approach. He puts the blame for everyday product frustrations and errors on the designer and offers a number of principles that put the focus of design on how a product is perceived, understood, and used by people. His message has had great influence on discussion of usability since the book’s publication.
Who's it for?
The content of the book seems to be addressed to general consumers, the frustrated users of everyday products. It asks them to realize that errors are due to design, not any inability to use a product on their part. But, of course, the book is also directed at product designers, urging them to rethink their priorities in designing for end users.
So what?
Norman’s book has become a classic in the interaction design field. It’s a good, approachable entry into user-centered design thinking and I’ve found many of the principles in the book are frequently referenced in design discourse. It offers a specific lens on design, one that I feel lacks discussion on the cultural, social, and emotional aspects of design (Norman explores these more in some of his other books). Nonetheless, the book is a key touchstone for interaction design reading and is worth being familiar with.
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More
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On Blaming the Design
Human-centeredness • Usability
When errors occur in the use of a product, people shouldn’t blame themselves, but should instead put the fault on the design and the designer. The designer, in turn, should take this responsibility for error seriously.
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On the Communication of Conceptual Models Through Design
Usability
A user relies on the system image of a product to form an understanding of how to use it, so the designer’s conceptual model needs to be carefully and thoughtfully mapped to the system image.
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On the Gulf of Evaluation (Natural Mappings and Feedback)
Usability
The Gulf of Evaluation describes the potential issues that arise from the discrepancy between the current state of the system and the user’s perceptions of it. Designers can narrow the gap through the use of natural mapping and clear feedback.
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On the Gulf of Execution (Affordances and Constraints)
Usability
The Gulf of Execution describes the potential issues that arise from the discrepancy between the user’s intention and the possible actions they can take. Designers can narrow the gap with visible affordances and considered constraints.
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On Knowledge in the World and Knowledge in the Head
Situatedness
The knowledge someone uses to perform an action can live in both the head and in the world. Pay attention to the design possibilities for both.
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On the Case for User-centered Design
Human-centeredness
User-centered design is meant to steer away from design driven by designer bias, market forces, and false idols of novelty and prestige. It prioritizes the relationship between user and designed system over everything else.