Donald A. Norman's Blog, page 5

Turns Signals Are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles

I am pleased to announce that Diversion Books has released my book of essays, Turn Signals Are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles, as an inexpensive eBook: US $4.99. Available in multiple formats, including Kindle, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google (MOBI and EPUB).

Things That Make Us Smart Available as eBook

I am pleased to announce that Diversion Books has released Things That Make Us Smart as an inexpensive eBook: US $4.99. Available in multiple formats, including Kindle, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google (MOBI and EPUB).

Why DesignX?

"Why DesignX" answers common questions about DesignX. In particular, What is new? What is the role of the designer? What about craft skills?

DesignX: A Future Path for Design

DesignX is a new, evidence-based approach for addressing many of the complex and serious problems facing the world today. It adds to and augments today's design methods, reformulating the role that design can play. Modern design has grown from a focus on products and services to a robust set of methods that is applicable to a wide range of societal issues. When combined with the knowledge and expertise of specialized disciplines, these design methods provide powerful ways to develop practical approaches to large, complex issues. We seek a radical reformation of design practice, education, and research. It is time for a new era of design activism.

Scenarios of the future: Two histories of the 21st century

One way to understand what future events might await us is to develop elaborate, complete scenarios of what life might be like as a result of new designs, inventions, and technologies. It isn't enough to describe the potential technologies: the scenario must illustrate how it might be used in everyday life, examining the implications that result. The purpose of this note is to recommend two recent books that expand upon the genre:
Adrian Hon's "A History of the Future in 100 Objects" and Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway's "The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future"

A Great Product Ruined

LG. get your act together. Every so often I can't stop myself from complaining. This is one of those every so oftens. No visibility. Insufficient tactile differentiation among the controls. No labeling of which side is right and which left which matters, both because these are stereo earphones and because the identical looking and feeling buttons do different things on the two sides of the device.

Manuals that use incredibly tiny type small type in gray on a black background. Badly written as well, but we have come to take that as standard. Usually we can figure things out anyway by playing with the controls. Not these controls. They are invisible in use (deliberate), but with insufficient tactile distinction, with the left controls identical to the right one, but doing different things, and no way of knowing which is left and which right, so on each usage, they will vary randomly.

Palate Home Smart Grill

I'm delighted to show a demo of our food start-up, Palate Home, to TechCrunch.

Palate Home Smart Grill Is No Longer in Stealth Mode

I'm delighted to announce that our food start-up, Palate Home, is no longer in stealth mode. See the demo and responses of TechCrunch and the judges.

How to make sure people can use your product & why perfection is bad (Interview with James Brandon, Inc.)

James Brandon, a contributing editor at Inc. magazine, produced two columns after interviewing me: "How to Make Sure Average People Can Use Your Product" and "One Word the Best Product Designers Never Use."

Newly Revised Call: The Design Lab at UC San Diego Seeks Design Fellows

(Major revision, 6 September 2014.) The newly established design initiative at the University of California, San Diego -- The Design Lab -- seeks creative fellows to join us in an exciting adventure to help advance the field of design. The posting includes the newly revised call for applicants plus the application format and four questions to answer.