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The design of everyday things is in great danger of becoming the design of superfluous, overloaded, unnecessary things.

Donald A. Norman

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Donald A. Norman
Design
Becoming
Great
Things
Overloaded
Superfluous
Unnecessary
Everyday
Danger

More quotes by Donald A. Norman

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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
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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
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Design is really an act of communication, which means having a deep understanding of the person with whom the designer is communicating.
Donald A. Norman
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In design it is important to shoe the effect of an action. ... Feedback is critical.
Donald A. Norman
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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
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I prefer design by experts - by people who know what they are doing
Donald A. Norman
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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
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Forget the complaints against complexity instead, complain about confusion.
Donald A. Norman
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The hardest part of design ... is keeping features out.
Donald A. Norman
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No product is an island. A product is more than the product. It is a cohesive, integrated set of experiences. Think through all of the stages of a product or service - from initial intentions through final reflections, from first usage to help, service, and maintenance. Make them all work together seamlessly. That's systems thinking.
Donald A. Norman
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Technology may change rapidly, but people change slowly. The principals [of design] come from understanding of people. They remain true forever.
Donald A. Norman
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User experience is really the whole totality. Opening the package good example. It's the total experience that matters. And that starts from when you first hear about a product experience is more based upon memory than reality. If your memory of the product is wonderful, you will excuse all sorts of incidental things.
Donald A. Norman
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Readers always seem to think that the author has some control over the design of their books.
Donald A. Norman
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Beauty and brains, pleasure and usability - they should go hand in hand.
Donald A. Norman
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Simplification is as much in the mind as it is in the device.
Donald A. Norman
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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
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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
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We are victims of our own success. We have let technology lead the way, pushing ever faster to newer, faster, and more powerful systems, with nary a moment to rest, contemplate, and to reflect upon why, how, and for whom all this energy has been expended.
Donald A. Norman
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Having the best product means nothing if the people won't buy it.
Donald A. Norman
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It was always amusing to be inside Apple and read what journalists said we were doing
Donald A. Norman