Donald A. Norman quotes: wise famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Donald A. Norman

Donald A. Norman Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from Donald A. Norman on Wise Famous Quotes.

The design of everyday things is in great danger of becoming the design of superfluous, overloaded, unnecessary things.

One way of overcoming the fear of the new is to make it look like the old.

If you're more susceptible to interruption, you do more out of the box thinking.

Attractive things work better When you wash and wax a car, it drives better, doesn't it? Or at least feels like it does.

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

Learning should take place when it is needed, when the learner is interested, not according to some arbitrary, fixed schedule

A brilliant solution to the wrong problem can be worse than no solution at all: solve the correct problem.

To understand products, it is not enough to understand design or technology: it is critical to understand business.

People Propose, Science Studies, Technology Conforms.

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.

Rule of thumb: if you think something is clever and sophisticated beware-it is probably self-indulgence.

The current paradigm is so thoroughly established that the only way to change is to start over again.

Finally, people have to actually purchase it. It doesn't matter how good a product is if, in the end, nobody uses it.

Simplification is as much in the mind as it is in the device.

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

Only the most sophisticated of beings can lie and cheat, and get away with it.

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

It was always amusing to be inside Apple and read what journalists said we were doing

Cognition and emotion are tightly intertwined, which means that the designers must design with both in mind.

adults forget how difficult that task was.

Academics get paid for being clever, not for being right.

Complexity is acceptable as long as it is intelligible and necessary. We want to avoid needless complications.

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

If people keep buying poorly designed products, manufacturers and designers will think they are doing the right thing and continue as usual.

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.

A good designer will actually design the company.

Cognition attempts to make sense of the world: emotion assigns value.

original ideas are the easy part. Actually producing the idea as a successful product is what is hard.

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

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,

Could we ever switch to this or any of the many other rational systems? Unlikely: tradition is difficult to overcome.

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

Fail often, fail fast,

Forget the complaints against complexity; instead, complain about confusion.

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

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

Attractive things work better.

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

Simplicity design axiom: The complexity of the information appliance is that of the task, not the tool. The technology is invisible.