Epicurus.com - The Design of Everyday Things

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Manufacturer: Basic Books

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 620.82
EAN: 9780465067107
ISBN: 0465067107
Label: Basic Books
Manufacturer: Basic Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 272
Publication Date: 2002-09
Publisher: Basic Books
Release Date: 2002-09-17
Studio: Basic Books

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Editorial Reviews:
First, businesses discovered quality as a key competitive edge; next came service. Now, Donald A. Norman, former Director of the Institute for Cognitive Science at the University of California, reveals how smart design is the new competitive frontier. The Design of Everyday Things is a powerful primer on how--and why--some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them.

Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: A Must Read for every Designer
Comment: As a human being we think we know other people and how they see and use products. This book tells many amusing anecdotes about products that were not successful because the designer made the things is a way he would have liked and not in the way real users use it. The book is written full of humor and with real passion for the subject.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Outdated, better books available
Comment: This book is a classic in the sense that it was once groundbreaking, in that it pointed out obvious flaws in industrial and software design. However, a lack of any updates outside of a new introduction leaves the book stale and dated. Complaints about the design of 1980s DOS software and VCRs is now of only historical interest.

Customer Rating:

Summary: One of the best books any designer could read
Comment: So often "design" books seem to go on about looks and "feel" yet only brush over the physiology of design. This book shows you how to think like a user, explorer like a user, error like a user and design for helping the user love your product.

Anyone reading this book will instantly appreciate truly good design over the average mud we currently live in.

Customer Rating:

Summary: It's OK - but how can this be the seminal book on usability...?
Comment: Having heard that this was the seminal work in usabiliy, my expectations were probably too high.

Some of the principles laid out are indeed excellent and well illustrated.

The structure of the book is - ironically - not crystal clear. As I am reading the book I find myself looking back at the table of contents to understand the structure.

The writing style is slightly entertaining at first and you sympathize with the author hanging out himself as a clumsy and spacey academic. However, after the first 30 pages the rambling style and the somewhat unstructured content makes the book really boring. I had to push myself to finish it.

What strikes me is the lack of other books in this topic. Despite my criticism I'd be curious to read Norman's new book.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Vey fast delivery very prompt service
Comment: very nice delivery very fast response. One of the best sellers at amazon.
will do business any time with them.

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