The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded EditionOne 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. |
Contents
| 1 | |
The Psychology of Everyday Actions | 37 |
Design Thinking | 217 |
Design in the World of Business | 258 |
Acknowledgments | 299 |
General Readings and Notes | 305 |
| 321 | |
123 | 327 |
| 331 | |
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Common terms and phrases
accident action activities affordances automobile behavior called cause Chapter chord keyboards cognitive cognitive science complex conceptual model constraints creeping featurism culture customers design research design thinking devices difficult display door driving edition emotional engineering Everyday Things example experience fail faucet feedback Figure Gimli Glider goal Gulf of Execution human error human-centered design human-computer interaction ideas IDEO important industry interaction iterative keyboard keys knowledge large number machines manufacturing marketing memory memory-lapse methods mistakes mode error multiple Norman operation peeler person pilots Poka-yoke principles problem prospective memory prototypes psychology push QWERTY radical innovation remember requirements result root cause analysis screens signifiers simple slips solution sometimes sound standard Swiss cheese model switches task temperature thermostat tion turn typewriter understand usability videophone wrong