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. |
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Contents
2 | 37 |
4 | 123 |
5 | 162 |
7 | 258 |
Acknowledgments | 299 |
General Readings and Notes | 305 |
References | 321 |
Index | 331 |
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Common terms and phrases
accident action activities actually affordances allow answer appropriate asked behavior better called cause Chapter communication complex conceptual model confusion Consider constraints continually correct cultural determine devices difficult discussed display door driving easy emotional engineering error example experience fail Figure follow functions goal hand happened head human ideas important industrial interaction keyboard keys knowledge lead light look machines major manufacturers mapping means memory methods mistakes move multiple natural normal occur once operation perhaps person physical possible present principles problem push question reason remember result rules shows signal signifiers simple situation slips solution sometimes sound standard switches task temperature things thought tion turn understand usually wrong