Design of Everyday Things (Complete)

Summary
Donald Norman explains common misconceptions regarding the design of everyday items. These range from microwaves, to VCRs, and even simple doors. The author explains that it is the designer's job to ensure products are intuitive and obvious to the user. Prime examples of where design fails include doors that are perfectly symmetrical, so that users cannot tell which way they swing open. To better understand how such seemingly simple designs fail, the author also discusses human memory and concepts such as natural mapping. Norman suggests that designs should make things visible, allow users to easily determine their state, and communicate possible actions to the user easily. Using the example of a VCR, all of the controls should be clearly labeled and obvious. If the VCR is in a particular state, such as if it was recording, this should also be obvious, and finally the possible actions should be apparent, such as pausing or stopping the device. When these things are contrasted to real VCRs, most of these conditions are not met.

Discussion
I enjoyed this book most of all because it was interesting, but also because the concepts inside it are genuinely important concepts frequently overlooked by designers. As technology becomes more complex, designers have a tendency to pass that complexity on to the user. This approach is poor however, as users hardly have the time or ability to become familiar with every piece of technology in the world. If you design doors or light switches for public locations, it should be your goal that no one notices your design at all.