Norman,+Donald.+A

=Donald A. Norman=

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[| Donald A. Norman] is a professor at Northwestern University where he is dedicated to teaching Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Psychology, and Cognitive Science. Norman is also a published author and has written several books on Design and Psychology:
 * //Human information processing: An introduction to psychology (1975) in collaboration with Peter H. Lindsay (first author)//
 * //Memory and attention// (1977)
 * //Learning and memory// (1982)
 * //Direct manipulation interfaces (1985)// in collaboration with E. L. Hutchins (first author) and J.D. Hollan
 * //User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction// (1986)(editor in collaboration with Stephen Draper)
 * //The Design of Everyday Things// (1988, originally under the title //The Psychology of Everyday Things//)
 * //Turn signals are the facial expressions of automobiles// (1992)
 * //Things That Make Us Smart// (1993)
 * //The Invisible Computer// (1999)
 * //Emotional Design// (2003)

His 1988 publication entitled “The Design of Everyday Things” has sold more than 100,000 copies and is currently being used as a study guide for CCT204: Design Thinking.

The Design of Everyday Things (The Psychology of Everyday Things)
This book focuses largely on “good” and “bad” design. He does so by demonstrating what makes good design for everyday items (fridges, doors etc) and what facets make design successful or unsuccessful. A major focus of this book is on the consequences of bad design and ways in which it can be improved using principles like mapping, visibility, feedback etc. The central focus of the book is to align designer intentions with user perceptions.

In addition, Norman discusses a design philosophy called "User-Centered Design". In short, it is design that focuses on the restrictions, desires, and needs of users while leaving issues such as aesthetics aside.

Norman's Seven-Stage-Model of Human Activity
The model focuses specifically on how an individual completes an assigned activity. The activity can be one that they themselves assign in their own minds, or one that is given to them to carry out and complete. The model goes as follows:



The argument is that we all start off with a goal in mind; we then form the intentions we have to carry out this goal, which in turn requires a sequence of actions that we execute in order to achieve the goal - Norman is arguing that at each separate interval, we perceive a new state of the world, interpret what we are seeing to provide it with an assigned meaning, and compare what the state of the world is //before// we carry out the action against what the world is //after// we carry out our actions.

Quotes by Donald Norman

 * "Beauty and brains, pleasure and usability - they should go hand in hand"
 * "But when it comes to the emotional side of design, most especially, Reflective Design, then I believe that we must design separately for different target populations".
 * "However, perhaps some day we can move away from the tyranny of operating systems and applications"
 * "I observed that most of the focus in product design is on the product itself, and I realized that's just a small piece of it".
 * "I think that manuals are much better when based on the activities we do, yet so many of them are not".
 * "I think the usability community is in trouble. That is, they are not making sufficient impact on products. Their story is like that of the design community".
 * "Knowing how people will use something is essential"
 * (Donald Norman Quotes, 2006)**

Related Links
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 * [|Biography of Donald Norman]
 * [|The life cycle of a technology]
 * [|Defending attributes in the pursuit of performance-centered design]
 * [|Donald A. Norman, 2006 Benjamin Franklin Medal]
 * [|Donald A. Norman]