On Blaming the Design

Throughout the book, Norman writes as a champion for end users of products. In one of the more memorable messages of the book, Norman urges users to stop blaming themselves when they have trouble using products and instead put the blame on the design and the designer.

Suppose I try to use an everyday thing, but I can’t: Where is the fault, in my action or in the thing? We are apt to blame ourselves. If we believe that others are able to use the device and if we believe that it is not very complex, then we conclude that any difficulties must be our own fault. Suppose the fault really lies in the device, so that lots of people have the same problems. Because everyone perceives the fault to be his or her own, nobody wants to admit to having trouble. This creates a conspiracy of silence, maintaining the feelings of guilt and helplessness among users. (p.40-41)

Norman wants to build a kind of design literacy in the public, empowering them to call out the responsibility of designers to truly serve the people who use the design.

The book makes a parallel suggestion to designers, advising them to accept and account for error as an inevitable part of a product’s use.

The designer shouldn’t think of a simple dichotomy between errors and correct behavior; rather, the entire interaction should be treated as a cooperative endeavor between person and machine, one in which misconceptions can arise on either side...Think of the user’s point of view. Assume that every possible mishap will happen, so protect against it. Make actions reversible. Try to make them less costly. (p.140)

Here we can see a core tenet of Norman’s design philosophy: design is for people and it is the designer’s responsibility to put their work in service of others. In the years since first published, Norman’s message has been popularized and is now implicit in a lot of interaction design thinking.