The Design Of Everyday Things
Donald A. Norman
What’s The Point?
An interesting look at the design of doors, computers, and things that we interact with daily. The book breaks down the major components of design and how they work. I learned about affordance, which the quality of something to do a task; a door handle affords being opened. The book was an interesting mix of psychology and science, which I’ve studied before with cognitive science. By better understanding how objects exists and how humans interact with those objects, you can design better interactions with everything.
How Was It?
While originally published in 1988, it’s quite relevant. I think it has become a seminal book for design: I’ve heard about it before, but never taken the time. The time is well worth it. It’s well organized with plenty of pictorial explanations of the concepts, anecdotes, and useful information.
Who Should Read It?
Designers and people who create! I think it’s useful to be able to judge the design of consumer products that you interact with daily. As a programmer, creating better interactions in the digital world is important to me, with those interactions often mirroring the physical world, especially with the iPhone and other touch interaction devices becoming more prevalent.