The Design of Future Things: Author of The Design of Everyday Things

Donald A. Norman, a popular design consultant to car manufacturers, computer companies, and other industrial and design outfits, has seen the future and is worried. In this long-awaited follow-up to The Design of Everyday Things , he points out what's going wrong with the wave of products just coming on the market and some that are on drawing boards everywhere-from "smart" cars and homes that seek to anticipate a user's every need, to the latest automatic navigational systems. Norman builds on this critique to offer a consumer-oriented theory of natural human-machine interaction that can be put into practice by the engineers and industrial designers of tomorrow's thinking machines. This is a consumer-oriented look at the perils and promise of the smart objects of the future, and a cautionary tale for designers of these objects-many of which are already in use or development. "Two decades ago psychologist and design consultant Donald A. Norman changed the way we look at everyday objects with his book The Design of Everyday Things. Now Norman turns his critical eye to the future. Once again, he points to the perils of ignoring the human factor when designing the devices that are supposed to improve our lives. Drawing on examples from all over the world - from bicycles in Delft to kitchens in Cambridge - he offers a new approach to human-machine interaction that will prove invaluable to today's engineers and designers - and to all of us who must navigate the increasingly complex objects so central to our lives."--Jacket

In The Design of Future Things, best-selling author Donald A. Norman presents a revealing examination of smart technology, from smooth-talking GPS units to cantankerous refrigerators. Exploring the links between design and human psychology, he offers a consumer-oriented theory of natural human-machine interaction that can be put into practice by the engineers and industrial designers of tomorrow’s thinking machines. A fascinating look at the perils and promise of the intelligent objects of the future, The Design of Future Things is a must-read for anyone interested in the dawn of a new era in technology.

In this book, Donald Norman presents a revealing examination of smart technology. Exploring the links between design and psychology, he offers a consumer-oriented theory of natural human-machine interaction that can be put into practice by the engineers and industrial designers of tomorrow's blinking machines.--[book cover] In a close-up look at the brave new world of "smart" technology, a leading design consultant describes what is wrong with the wave of new products on the market, offering a consumer-oriented theory of natural human-machine interaction that takes into consideration the perils and promise of the smart objects of the future. Cautious cars and cantankerous kitchens: how machines take control -- The psychology of people & machines -- Natural interaction -- Servants of our machines -- The role of automation -- Communicating with our machines -- The future of everyday things -- Afterword: The machine's point of view Don Norman points out what is going wrong with the wave of products just coming on the market and some that are on drawing boards everywhere - from 'smart' cars and homes that seek to anticipate a user's every need to the latest automatic navigational systems