The Design of Everyday Things : Revised and Expanded Edition

"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. In this entertaining and insightful analysis, cognitive scientist Don Norman hails excellence of design as the most important key to regaining the competitive edge in influencing consumer behavior. Now fully expanded and updated, with a new introduction by the author, The Design of Everyday Things is a powerful primer on how-and why-some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them. "-- Provided by publisher Contents 8 Preface to the Revised Edition 12 1. The Psychopathology of Everyday Things 20 The Complexity of Modern Devices 23 Human-Centered Design 27 Fundamental Principles of Interaction 29 The System Image 50 The Paradox of Technology 51 The Design Challenge 53 2. The Psychology of Everyday Actions 56 How People Do Things: The Gulfs of Execution and Evaluation 57 The Seven Stages of Action 59 Human Thought: Mostly Subconscious 63 Human Cognition and Emotion 68 The Seven Stages of Action and the Three Levels of Processing 74 People as Storytellers 75 Blaming the Wrong Things 78 Falsely Blaming Yourself 84 The Seven Stages of Action: Seven Fundamental Design Principles 90 3. Knowledge In the Head and In the World 93 Precise Behavior from Imprecise Knowledge 94 Memory Is Knowledge in the Head 105 The Structure of Memory 110 Approximate Models: Memory in the Real World 119 Knowledge in the Head 124 The Tradeoff Between Knowledge in the World and in the Head 128 Memory in Multiple Heads, Multiple Devices 130 Natural Mapping 132 Culture and Design: Natural Mappings Can Vary with Culture 137 4. Knowing What to Do: Constraints, Discoverability, and Feedback 142 Four Kinds of Constraints: Physical, Cultural, Semantic, and Logical 144 Applying Affordances, Signifiers, and Constraints to Everyday Objects 151 Constraints That Force the Desired Behavior 160 Conventions, Constraints, and Affordances 164 The Faucet: A Case History of Design 169 Using Sound as Signifiers 174 5. Human Error? No, Bad Design 181 Understanding Why There Is Error 182 Deliberate Violations 188 Two Types of Errors: Slips and Mistakes 189 The Classification of Slips 192 The Classification of Mistakes 198 Social and Institutional Pressures 205 Reporting Error 210 Detecting Error 213 Designing for Error 217 When Good Design Isn鈥檛 Enough 229 The Paradox of Automation 232 Design Principles for Dealing with Error 234 6. Design Thinking 236 Solving the Correct Problem 237 The Double-Diamond Model of Design 239 The Human-Centered Design Process 240 What I Just Told You? It Doesn't Really Work That Way 255 The Design Challenge 258 Complexity Is Good: It Is Confusion That Is Bad 266 Standardization and Technology 267 Deliberately Making Things Difficult 274 Design: Developing Technology for People 276 7. Design In the World of Business 277 Competitive Forces 278 New Technologies Force Change 283 How Long Does It Take to Introduce a New Product? 287 Two Forms of Innovation: Incremental and Radical 298 The Design of Everyday Things: 1988-2038 301 The Future of Books 307 The Moral Obligations of Design 310 Design Thinking and Thinking About Design 312 Acknowledgments 318 General Readings and Notes 324 References 340 Index 350 Preface to the Revised Edition The Psychopathology of Everyday Things The Complexity of Modern Devices Human-Centered Design Fundamental Principles of Interaction The System Image The Paradox of Technology The Design Challenge The Psychology of Everyday Actions How People Do Things: The Gulfs of Execution and Evaluation The Seven Stages of Action Human Thought: Mostly Subconscious Human Cognition and Emotion The Seven Stages of Action and the Three Levels of Processing People as Storytellers Blaming the Wrong Things Falsely Blaming Yourself The Seven Stages of Action: Seven Fundamental Design Principles Knowledge in the Head and in the World Precise Behavior from Imprecise Knowledge Memory Is Knowledge in the Head The Structure of Memory Approximate Models: Memory in the Real World Knowledge in the Head The Tradeoff Between Knowledge in the World and in the Head Memory in Multiple Heads, Multiple Devices Natural Mapping Culture and Design: Natural Mappings Can Vary with Culture Knowing What to Do: Constraints, Discoverability, and Feedback Four Kinds of Constraints: Physical, Cultural, Semantic, and Logical Applying Affordances, Signifiers, and Constraints to Everyday Objects Constraints That Force the Desired Behavior Conventions, Constraints, and Affordances The Faucet: A Case History of Design Using Sound as Signifiers Human Error? No, Bad Design Understanding Why There Is Error Deliberate Violations Two Types of Errors: Slips and Mistakes The Classification of Slips The Classification of Mistakes Social and Institutional Pressures Reporting Error Detecting Error Designing for Error When Good Design Isn't Enough Resilience Engineering The Paradox of Automation Design Principles for Dealing with Error Design Thinking Solving the Correct Problem The Double-Diamond Model of Design The Human-Centered Design Process What I Just Told You? It Doesn't Really Work That Way The Design Challenge Complexity Is Good; It Is Confusion That Is Bad Standardization and Technology Deliberately Making Things Difficult Design: Developing Technology for People Design in the World of Business Competitive Forces New Technologies Force Change How Long Does It Take to Introduce a New Product? Two Forms of Innovation: Incremental and Radical The Design of Everyday Things: 1988-2038 The Future of Books The Moral Obligations of Design Design Thinking and Thinking About Design Acknowledgments General Readings and Notes References Index 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. Bad product design 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 author argues that good, usable design is possible and 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 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. "First, businesses discovered quality as a key competitive edge; next came service. Now, Donald A. Norman, former Director of the Institute for Cognitive Science at the University of California, reveals how smart design is the new competitive frontier. The Design of Everyday Things is a powerful primer on how--and why--some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them"--Provided by publisher Donald Norman's best-selling plea for user-friendly design, with more than 175,000 copies sold to date, is now a Basic paperback.'Provocative.'--Time magazine