Discover what made the future: Donald Norman – Design of Everyday Things

Donal Norman popularised the concept of design thinking. He worked at Apple where he became the first to sport the title ‘User Experience Architect’.

“Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible.” Donald Norman famously wrote in his revised edition of The Design of Everyday Things. In the book he discusses mistakes in usability being the fault of the designer and not the user, challenging how we look at design and user experience.

Norman spends a notable amount of time discussing door handles and how the simple oversight in the design process causes the constant push or pull conundrum. In his opinion, if the human-centred design process is followed you wouldn’t need signs to guide people through your door.  “It’s not just you, bad handles are everywhere.”