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 lies in product design that ignore the needs of users and the principles of cognitive psychology. A bestseller in the United States, this bible on the cognitive aspects of design contains examples of both good and bad design and simple rules that designers can use to improve the usability of objects as diverse as cars, computers, doors, and telephones.

Publisher:

MIT Press

ISBN:

9780262640374

Publication date:

August 1998

Length:

229mm

Width:

156mm

Weight:

0g

Pages:

271

Illustrations:

Illustrated

Readership:

Tertiary education; Professional & scholarly

Illustrated:

Illustrated

Norman . . . makes a strong case for the needlessness of badly conceived and badly designed everyday objects . . . . [T]his book may herald the beginning of a change in user habits and expectations, a change that manufacturers would be obliged to respond to. Button pushers of the world, unite. -- Los Angeles Times

• The psychopathology of everyday things
• the psychology of everyday actions
• knowledge in the head and in the world
• knowing what to do
• to err is human
• the design challenge
• user
• centred design