The Design of Everyday Things

by Don Norman

One of the world's great designers shares his vision of "the fundamental principles of great and meaningful design", that's "even more relevant today than it was when first published" (Tim Brown, CEO, IDEO).

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.

The Design of Everyday Things is a powerful primer on how -- and why -- some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Art, Psychology

347 pages, Paperback

Published November 5, 2013

Reviews

[Jenna H · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend recommended me this book during spring break in college. I have no idea why we were talking about nonfiction books when we should have been partying on a yacht, but I digress. I found a lot of the anecdotes fascinating, especially the discussion about what the default scrolling direction should be for touch screen devices. It's also fun to notice many of the examples in this book in real life e.g. Norman doors.

I'm known in my social circle as the person who knows way too much random shit. The reason why is because I'm always _reading_ random shit like this book. If you'd like to develop a deep collection of fun facts to share with people to fill any awkward silences, I'd start here.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
A solid book on HCI basics. Norman’s core argument is that design succeeds or fails on two things: 1/ can users see what actions are possible, and 2/ can they understand how to carry them out. When those cues are missing, people blame themselves for mistakes that are really design failures. In fact, how can we design tools and systems that forgive (inevitable) human error? That framing makes small annoyances ( like confusing doors) connect to larger failures like plane crashes, infrastructure breakdowns, social systems, etc. Weak feedback, missing signals, unclear safeguards, etc - the same design flaws scale up. The takeaway for me is that “human error” is rarely just human. It’s often the system failing to guide, protect, or adapt; good design should expect mistakes and make room for recovery.

[Valeria Avramenko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of design principles for people who never heard of design or want to try themselves in this field and see if it's for them. Good reminder from the book – human mistake is almost never solely human, we need to ask more "why did this happen?" questions to get to the bottom of it and see if the design can be improved (we can't expect people to behave like machines, but we can make machines expect people behaving imperfectly). It still felt though that the book is not sure who its target audience is – some stuff were all over the place, some for users, some for manufacturers, some for specific industries, things repeating between sections.

[Brody Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book, I enjoyed it very much, there was lots of ideas that Scott explained very well. It overall gave me a different look on the design process and how to think about not just new devices but everyday thing. From doors to kitchen sinks to even keyboards. My only complaint was I felt the book was too repetitive and would have loved a more varieties of explanations and points.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good insights into designing things to make their ease of use invisible. Important considerations for feedback and lack thereof with consumers to product designers when middlemen are involved. Highlights importance of vertical integration.

[Jessica Divers · Rating 4 out of 5]

There may be better books on design thinking now, but I still think of this book and its anecdote about aircraft controls every time I see a car dashboard with touch screen buttons with no tactile feedback.

Still betting that those stupid touch screens eventually die.

[Olivia Nuttall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very psychology heavy. A bit hard to continue reading at times. It was good though as it complemented my UX course nicely. I learnt about avoidances, signifiers and the difference between mistakes and slips.

[Elijah Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible insight into the power of good design and what defines it. Essential reading for anyone seeking to design things for people; the lessons here transcend time, culture, and change, just as good design does.

[Sam Crognale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish it had just been about designing teapots

[Shubhi Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for every designer

[camille! · Rating 4 out of 5]

this man loves to talk about doors

[Maithili · Rating 5 out of 5]

good as a gift.

excellent book cover design!