Quote

In my opinion, no single design is apt to be optimal for everyone.

Donald A. Norman

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Donald A. Norman
Opinion
Everyone
Death
Optimal
Design
Single

More quotes by Donald A. Norman

Image
The world is complex, and so too must be the activities that we perform. But that doesn't mean that we must live in continual frustration. No. The whole point of human-centered design is to tame complexity, to turn what would appear to be a complicated tool into one that fits the task, that is understandable, usable, enjoyable.
Donald A. Norman
Image
What makes something simple or complex? It's not the number of dials or controls or how many features it has: It is whether the person using the device has a good conceptual model of how it operates.
Donald A. Norman
Image
Am I an Apple bigot? No. I can critique their products and their customer service philosophy. But overall, they do better than any other player.
Donald A. Norman
Image
The design of everyday things is in great danger of becoming the design of superfluous, overloaded, unnecessary things.
Donald A. Norman
Image
Simplification is as much in the mind as it is in the device.
Donald A. Norman
Image
The hardest part of design ... is keeping features out.
Donald A. Norman
Image
I think there is a tendency in science to measure what is measurable and to decide that what you cannot measure must be uninteresting.
Donald A. Norman
Image
When I use a direct manipulation system whether for text editing, drawing pictures, or creating and playing games I do think of myself not as using a computer but as doing the particular task. The computer is, in effect, invisible. The point cannot be overstressed: make the computer system invisible.
Donald A. Norman
Image
So what does a good teacher do? Create tension - but just the right amount.
Donald A. Norman
Image
It is the duty of machines and those who design them to understand people. It is not our duty to understand the arbitrary, meaningless dictates of machines.
Donald A. Norman
Image
Innocence lost is not easily regained. The designer simply cannot predict the problems people will have, the misinterpretations that will arise, and the errors that will get made.
Donald A. Norman
Image
Hypertext makes a virtue out of lack of organization, allowing ideas and thoughts to be juxtaposed at will. [...] The advent of hypertext is apt to make writing much more difficult, not easier. Good writing, that is.
Donald A. Norman
Image
Good design is also an act of communication between the designer and the user, except that all the communication has to come about by the appearance of the device itself. The device must explain itself.
Donald A. Norman
Image
Forget the complaints against complexity instead, complain about confusion.
Donald A. Norman
Image
The current paradigm is so thoroughly established that the only way to change is to start over again.
Donald A. Norman
Image
Beauty and brains, pleasure and usability - they should go hand in hand.
Donald A. Norman
Image
If you think the products don't match what you want from a product, don't buy it.
Donald A. Norman
Image
Rule of thumb: if you think something is clever and sophisticated beware-it is probably self-indulgence.
Donald A. Norman
Image
Go to the bookstore and look at how many bookshelves are filled with books trying to explain how to work the devices. We don't see shelves of books on how to use television sets, telephones, refrigerators or washing machines. Why should we for computer-based applications?
Donald A. Norman
Image
I believe that robots should only have faces if they truly need them
Donald A. Norman