Articles

Don Norman

Don Norman is co-founder and board member of Nielsen Norman Group. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and has been awarded three honorary degrees. Don was a founding director of the Design Lab at the University of California, San Diego.

Articles and Videos

  • Emotional Design

    Discover the 3 levels of emotional response, and how emotion affects value judgments and how user behavior impact UX.

  • The Design of Everyday Things

    Find out the inspiration behind Don Norman's book, The Design of Everyday Things.

  • Don Norman on the Term "UX"

    We asked Don what he feels about the way people are using terms like “UX” and “user experience” these days.

  • Apple's products are getting harder to use because they ignore principles of design

    Today, the products are beautiful, but for many of us, confusing. The fonts are pleasant to the eye, but difficult to read. The principle of "discoverability" has been lost. The only way to know what to do in many situations is to have memorized the action.

  • The Paradox of Wearable Technologies (at jnd.org)

    Can wearable devices be helpful? Absolutely. But they can also be horrid. It all depends upon whether we use them to focus and augment our activities or to distract. It is up to us, and up to those who create these new wearable wonders to decide which it is to be. Article available at Technology Review.

  • Suggested Readings From Design of Everyday Things, Revised edition (at jnd.org)

    Don Norman's list of general books for interaction design from the 2013 revision and expansion of the book "Design of Everyday Things."

  • Complexity is Good, Simplicity Overrated (at jnd.org)

    Misc Magazine asked if I would contribute an essay on "simplicity." "No," I responded, "but I'll write on complexity. So here it is. (Readers of my book "Living with Complexity" will find this familiar.)

  • Gadgets? Who, me? (at jnd.org)

    Misc Magazine liked my essay on "complexity," so they asked me to write on gadgets. What? To my great surprise, I complied.

  • Great Design Always Means Great Style (at jnd.org)

    Style refers to the way of doing something and although we usually use it in the positive sense, the word itself is neutral, referring only to the manner by which something is done. Style can be coarse and ugly, brutish and dangerous. The best styles, including both those we respect and prefer and those we detest, are true and honest, consistent and coherent.

  • Manufacturing, Design, and Innovation (at jnd.org)

    This is an expanded version of my welcoming address to the "Workshop on Building the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation," September 27, 2012, held at the western conference center of the National Academies, Irvine, California. Website