The Design of Everyday Things

“Design is concerned with how things work, how they are controlled, and the nature of the interaction between people and technology.”

This quote broadly defines the subject of Norman’s book. Norman is concerned with the design of everyday objects and systems, not just traditional design fields, such as fashion and housing. In other words, he holds that all artificial things are designed, be they objects or systems.

“It is the duty of machines and those who design them to understand people. It is not our duty to understand the arbitrary, meaningless dictates of machines.”

Norman promotes HCD. Placing human needs and capabilities at the center of the design process ensures that machines adapt to humans, rather than the other way around. Norman first introduced this novel concept in a book he co-edited with Stephen W. Draper in 1986, using the term “user-centered design.”

“Poor feedback can be worse than no feedback at all.”

Fast, accurate feedback is critical to good design. Poor feedback, however, can be as detrimental as no feedback because it is distracting, uninformative, irritating, and anxiety-provoking.