Donald A. Norman Quotes

Quotes about:

• 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.

  Donald A. Norman

  Motivational, Fun, People

  29 Copy quote

• Technology may change rapidly, but people change slowly. The principals [of design] come from understanding of people. They remain true forever.

  Donald A. Norman

  Technology, People, Design

  28 Copy quote

• Design is really an act of communication, which means having a deep understanding of the person with whom the designer is communicating.

  Donald A. Norman

  Communication, Mean, Deep Understanding

  13 Copy quote

• The hardest part of design ... is keeping features out.

  Donald A. Norman

  Design, Software, Hardest

  55 Copy quote

• The best kind of design isn't necessarily an object, a space, or a structure: it's a process- dynamic and adaptable.

  Donald A. Norman

  Space, Design, Kind

  Donald A. Norman (2007). “Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things”, p.198, Basic Books

  6 Copy quote

• Beauty and brains, pleasure and usability - they should go hand in hand.

  Donald A. Norman

  Hands, Design, Brain

  21 Copy quote

• User-centered design means working with your users all throughout the project.

  Donald A. Norman

  Mean, Design, Projects

  4 Copy quote

• Attractive things work better.

  Donald A. Norman

  Attractive Things, Design, Attractive

  Donald A. Norman (2013). “The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition”, p.48, Basic Books

  4 Copy quote

• Knowing how people will use something is essential

  Donald A. Norman

  Aquariums, Knowing, People

  10 Copy quote

• The world is complex, and so too must be the activities that we perform. But that doesn't mean that we must live in continual frustration. No. The whole point of human-centered design is to tame complexity, to turn what would appear to be a complicated tool into one that fits the task, that is understandable, usable, enjoyable.

  Donald A. Norman

  Mean, Frustration, Design

  17 Copy quote

• Good design is also an act of communication between the designer and the user, except that all the communication has to come about by the appearance of the device itself. The device must explain itself.

  Donald A. Norman

  Communication, Design, Appearance

  "The Design of Everyday Things". Book by Donald Norman, Introduction, 2002.

  4 Copy quote

• When a device as simple as a door has to come with an instruction manual—even a one-word manual—then it is a failure, poorly designed.

  Donald A. Norman

  Simple, Doors, Instruction

  "The Design of Everyday Things". Book by Donald Norman, Ch. 4, p. 87; regarding doors labeled "Push" and "Pull", 2002.

  21 Copy quote

• A challenge to the designers of the world: Make signs unnecessary.

  Donald A. Norman

  Design, Challenges, World

  4 Copy quote

• Having the best product means nothing if the people won't buy it.

  Donald A. Norman

  Business, Mean, People

  9 Copy quote

• No product is an island. A product is more than the product. It is a cohesive, integrated set of experiences. Think through all of the stages of a product or service - from initial intentions through final reflections, from first usage to help, service, and maintenance. Make them all work together seamlessly. That's systems thinking.

  Donald A. Norman

  Reflection, Thinking, Islands

  10 Copy quote

• A good designer will actually design the company.

  Donald A. Norman

  Design, Designer, Good Design

  4 Copy quote

• Behavioral design is all about feeling in control. Includes: usability, understanding, but also the feel.

  Donald A. Norman

  Design, Understanding, Feelings

  7 Copy quote

• User experience is really the whole totality. Opening the package good example. It's the total experience that matters. And that starts from when you first hear about a product experience is more based upon memory than reality. If your memory of the product is wonderful, you will excuse all sorts of incidental things.

  Donald A. Norman

  Memories, Reality, Example

  11 Copy quote

• How do you discover a need that nobody yet knows about? This is where the product breakthroughs come through.

  Donald A. Norman

  Needs, Breakthrough, Knows

  Donald A. Norman (2005). “Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things”, p.70, Basic Books

  8 Copy quote

• People Propose, Science Studies, Technology Conforms.

  Donald A. Norman

  Technology, People, Study

  "Things That Make Us Smart". Book by Don Norman, www.theguardian.com. 1993.

  4 Copy quote

• Any time you see signs or labels added to a device, it is an indication of bad design: a simple lock should not require instructions.

  Donald A. Norman

  Simple, Design, Locks

  Donald A. Norman (2010). “Living with Complexity”, p.64, MIT Press

  4 Copy quote

• In design it is important to shoe the effect of an action. ... Feedback is critical.

  Donald A. Norman

  Shoes, Design, Important

  4 Copy quote

• In my opinion, no single design is apt to be optimal for everyone.

  Donald A. Norman

  Death, Design, Opinion

  22 Copy quote

• If you think of the product as a service, then the separate parts make no sense - the point of a product is to offer great experiences to its owner, which means that it offers a service. And that experience, that service, comprises the totality of its parts: The whole is indeed made up of all of the parts. The real value of a product consists of far more than the product's components.

  Donald A. Norman

  Real, Mean, Thinking

  4 Copy quote

• Everything has a personality: everything sends an emotional signal. Even where this was not the intention of the designer, the people who view the website infer personalities and experience emotions. Bad websites have horrible personalities and instill horrid emotional states in their users, usually unwittingly. We need to design things-products, websites, services-to convey whatever personality and emotions are desired.

  Donald A. Norman

  Emotional, Views, People

  9 Copy quote

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