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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

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Donald A. Norman
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More quotes by Donald A. Norman

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I'm not a fan of technology . I'm a fan of pedagogy, of understanding how people learn and the most effective learning methods. But technology enables some exciting changes.
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If you think the products don't match what you want from a product, don't buy it.
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I think a successful company is one where everybody owns the same mission. Out of necessity, we divide ourselves up into discipline groups. But the goal when you are actually doing the work is to somehow forget what discipline group you are in and come together. So in that sense, nobody should own user experience everybody should own it.
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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.
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Forget the complaints against complexity instead, complain about confusion.
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Readers always seem to think that the author has some control over the design of their books.
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Simplification is as much in the mind as it is in the device.
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The hardest part of design ... is keeping features out.
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Beauty and brains, pleasure and usability - they should go hand in hand.
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Only the most sophisticated of beings can lie and cheat, and get away with it.
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The design of everyday things is in great danger of becoming the design of superfluous, overloaded, unnecessary things.
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How do you discover a need that nobody yet knows about? This is where the product breakthroughs come through.
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It is not enough that we build products that function, that are understandable and usable, we also need to build products that bring joy and excitement, pleasure and fun, and, yes, beauty to people's lives.
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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.
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AS for all those mistakes I make - they are on purpose - to teach you how to deal with them
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Complexity is acceptable as long as it is intelligible and necessary. We want to avoid needless complications.
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Having the best product means nothing if the people won't buy it.
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Academics get paid for being clever, not for being right.
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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.
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