The Design of Everyday Things

The Design of Everyday Things
	First edition (original title)
Author	Donald Norman
Original title	The Psychology of Everyday Things
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Design, Psychology, Business
Publisher	Basic Books
Publication date	1988
ISBN	978-0-465-06710-7
Dewey Decimal	620.8'2—dc20

The Design of Everyday Things is a best-selling^[1] book by cognitive scientist and usability engineer Donald Norman about how design serves as the communication between object and user, and how to optimize that conduit of communication in order to make the experience of using the object pleasurable. One of the main premises of the book is that although people are often keen to blame themselves when objects appear to malfunction, it is not the fault of the user but rather the lack of intuitive guidance that should be present in the design.

The book was originally published in 1988 with the title The Psychology of Everyday Things. Norman said his academic peers liked that title, but believed the new title better conveyed the content of the book and better attracted interested readers.^[2]^: ix It is often referred to by the initialisms POET and DOET.

Norman uses case studies to describe the psychology behind what he deems good and bad design, and proposes design principles. The book spans several disciplines including behavioral psychology, ergonomics, and design practice.

A major update of the book, The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition, was published in 2013.^[3]

^ Durham, Tony (November 6, 1998). "Science of the appliance". Times Higher Education. London.
^ Norman, Donald (1988). "Preface to the 2002 Edition". The Design of Everyday Things. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-06710-7.
^ Norman, Donald A. (2013). The design of everyday things (Revised and expandes editons ed.). Cambridge, MA London: The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-52567-1.

[Durham-1] Durham, Tony (November 6, 1998). "Science of the appliance". Times Higher Education. London.

[Preface2002-2] Norman, Donald (1988). "Preface to the 2002 Edition". The Design of Everyday Things. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-06710-7.

[3] Norman, Donald A. (2013). The design of everyday things (Revised and expandes editons ed.). Cambridge, MA London: The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-52567-1.

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