The Design of Everyday Things
- Author
- Donald A. Norman
- Year
- 2013
Don Norman's classic explains why some everyday objects are a pleasure to use and others a source of daily frustration, through the ideas of affordance and feedback. First published in 1988 and revised in 2013, it treats design as communication between object and user.
Norman's canonical text on why some things are a joy to use and others a daily frustration — affordances, feedback, and the cognitive psychology of everyday objects. The book that put the SDF's Humans and Observations components at the heart of design.
First published in 1988 as The Psychology of Everyday Things and revised and expanded in 2013, the book explores the cognitive aspects of design through examples of both good and bad design across objects as varied as doors, telephones, cars and computers. Norman's central argument is that design is a form of communication between object and user, and that good design makes that communication effortless and pleasurable.
Where to find it
Related in Community
Entries this one is tied to through the book.
Books and references
- Change by Design · discussed together in section 100
- Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change · discussed together in section 100
- Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need · discussed together in section 106
- Design, When Everybody Designs · discussed together in section 100
- Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design · discussed together in section 100
- The Story of Stuff · discussed together in section 154
Examples
- Aguablanca District Urban Planning, Cali · discussed together in section 106
In the framework
- Human Component
- Observations Component
Mentioned in
Books and references