Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things
by Donald A. Norman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Donald A. NormanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-05-10
ISBN: 0465051367
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Basic Books
Book Reviews of Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things
Book Review: Simple, wonderful, insightful, great book by a great thinker and scientist. See other resources, too.
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been thumbing through this book for the last month, and I have to say that I love it.
I've admired Donald Norman, one of the greatest living cognitive scientists, from afar for over 20 years. He was seemingly afforded "guru" status when he visited the University of Colorado's Institute of Cognitive Science in the mid `80s - an esteemed, accessible and entertaining cognitive/computer scientist (and also a cantankerous one) who had pioneered the human factors movement. His entertaining and friendly style was informed by creative, deep, empirical, theoretical work in cognitive science. I came to trust his insights whenever I dabbled in "usability" and "human factors" issues. (Trust me--there are plenty of people who think they understand these things, but Norman is the real deal who delivers the necessary stuff... Check out his masterpiece, "The Design of Everyday Things."). By the time I arrived at UCSD in the late 90s, he had already left our university for Apple Computer, but he seems to have left an indelible, positive stamp on the place. His photo hangs outside of our Francis Crick Conference Room as one of the great scientists who worked here.
The current book shows that "attractive things work better" (which is the title of one of Norman's classic essays). Norman dabbles in cognitive, emotional, behavioral and neural science as he makes his key points, showing that "works better" is a multifaceted psychological, emotional, and neural concept. The thesis is much like the ones that permeate clinical psychology in the form of Cognitive-Behavioral therapies (e.g., Beck & Ellis). However, the ideas contained herein inform product design, product choice, and product ownership.
The chapter on "three levels of behavioral design: visceral, behavioral, and reflective" is at the heart of this book (as described by other reviewers), and the one that sticks with me the most. If you are interested in a quick tour of "emotional design", read that chapter and look at the striking yet simple pictures throughout the book. Read some of Norman's amusing stories about objects that he owns... Then, if you are hooked, read the whole book.
I recommend that readers check out some of Norman's interviews and podcasts that coincide with the release of the book. On Norman's website, there is a section titled interviews. Follow the link for NPR's WHYY interview - it is great stuff. Or watch brief the video accompanying the Benjamin Franklin award in Computer and Cogntive Science. Or watch one of the podcasts. Any of these things will help to bring the key design concepts, and Norman's insightful universe, to life. I use these things in the Cognitive Psychology courses that I teach, and I find that they get students talking, and excited, about the interface between congnition, emotion and design.
Great book!
Summary of Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things
Did you ever wonder why cheap wine tastes better in fancy glasses? Why sales of Macintosh computers soared when Apple introduced the colorful iMac? New research on emotion and cognition has shown that attractive things really do work better, as Donald Norman amply demonstrates in this fascinating book, which has garnered acclaim everywhere from Scientific American to The New Yorker.Emotional Design articulates the profound influence of the feelings that objects evoke, from our willingness to spend thousands of dollars on Gucci bags and Rolex watches, to the impact of emotion on the everyday objects of tomorrow.Norman draws on a wealth of examples and the latest scientific insights to present a bold exploration of the objects in our everyday world. Emotional Design will appeal not only to designers and manufacturers but also to managers, psychologists, and general readers who love to think about their stuff.
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