Donald A. Norman, a popular design consultant to car manufacturers, computer companies, and other industrial and design outfits, has seen the future and is worried. In this long-awaited follow-up to The Design of Everyday Things, he points out what's going wrong with the wave of products just coming on the market and some that are on drawing boards everywhere-from “smart” cars and homes that seek to anticipate a user's every need, to the latest automatic navigational systems. Norman builds on this critique to offer a consumer-oriented theory of natural human-machine interaction that can be put into practice by the engineers and industrial designers of tomorrow's thinking machines. This is a consumer-oriented look at the perils and promise of the smart objects of the future, and a cautionary tale for designers of these objects-many of which are already in use or development.

Listening Length

5 hours and 41 minutes
Author

Donald A. Norman
Narrator

Bill Quinn
Audible release date

December 1, 2009
Language

English
Publisher

Audible Studios
ASIN

B002ZJ1V4S
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	5 hours and 41 minutes
Author	Donald A. Norman
Narrator	Bill Quinn
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	December 01, 2009
Publisher	Audible Studios
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B002ZJ1V4S
Best Sellers Rank	#89,660 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #20 in Industrial Engineering (Audible Books & Originals) #28 in Occupational & Organizational Psychology (Audible Books & Originals) #69 in Industrial Product Design

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

107 global ratings

5 star		68%
4 star		15%
3 star		14%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Europa

Don Norman is great!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 16, 2022

Verified Purchase

I love Don Norman and his ideas about design. I needed this book for a class I was taking and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading it. The only downside is that he can be verbose at time, but he is clear about getting his point across.

One person found this helpful

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Eli

Great seller and great read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 22, 2017

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I did not expect to enjoy this book, but I did and I would highly recommend it. I wish more designers and engineers read it, even if I don't always agree 100% with Norman.
Seller was great- product came on time/early and in perfect shape

3 people found this helpful

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Good but not Great

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 5, 2008

Verified Purchase

An interesting read. Ranks in this order:

(1) Design of Everyday Things
(2) Emotional Design
(distant 3rd) Design of Future Things

It wasn't "bad" it simply wasn't as interesting as the others. Whereas at the end of (1) and (2) I felt enlightened - that Norman was breaking new ground. At the end of Future Things I felt he had spent much of the time repeating himself, that the book could have been half the length.

Good book, but I would skip.

37 people found this helpful

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Craig Ogg

Okay, but no Design of Everyday Things

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 17, 2007

Verified Purchase

Norman's book Design of Everyday Things had a profound effect both on the way I perceive the world and how I design. I have bought every consumer book he has written since then, and have always come away disappointed.

I am giving this book only 3 stars because I felt it became repetitive after a while, having covered the points adequately in the first half of the book. Not up to the quality I expect of Norman.

37 people found this helpful

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Joseph

Not his best but a good, short read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 11, 2013

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Slightly different from his other books, this seems more a collection of musings about automation and human-machine interaction. Worth a read but perhaps a little more shallow than his other work.

6 people found this helpful

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mike franzel

disappointing

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 4, 2012

Verified Purchase

Mixed with some really good ideas is mostly just pontification and droll explanation of things that already are.

Many of the conclusions in this book can be reached much sooner on the reader's own without the lengthy writer's passages that seem to only extend the book's length rather than open the reader's mind. Yes, machines now only signal us, not communicate with us, when the wash's cycle has ended or the microwave's 2 minutes are up, but then, what else do we need? I don't want my vacuum reminding me it's vacuuming or when it's finished. That's why it's automatic.

5 people found this helpful

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SIDIKA SS

All the books I've bought, are written very successful ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 8, 2015

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All the books I've bought, are written very successful.

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Mumu

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 22, 2016

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Thanks

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Helenix

readable engineering to make you think!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 28, 2011

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I bought this because I enjoyed "The psychology of everyday things" by the same author. He combines practical information with interesting comments about how the mind works and how people react to good design. Well worth reading

Gillianscooby

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 4, 2016

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Excellent

Jens Jacobsen

Angenehme Lektüre mit Aha-Effekt

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on May 15, 2015

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Wer sich dafür interessiert, wie man Dinge so konzipiert, dass sie ihre Nutzer verärgern oder gar gefährden, der ist mit diesem Buch gut beraten. Und wer sich intelligent unterhalten lassen will mit Geschichten aus dem täglichen Leben (oder dem, wie wir es in 10 Jahren führen werden), der kann hier auch nichts falsch machen.

Ob man Usability-Profi ist oder das Thema nur spannend findet, wie die Kommunikation zwischen Mensch und Maschine funktioniert (oder eben nicht) – jeder wird dieses Buch mit Freue lesen. Bahnbrechende Erkenntnisse darf man sich nicht erwarten, aber einige schöne Geschichten und etliche Denkanstöße.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on June 20, 2021

Verified Purchase

Poor print qualt

Abhilash

Great book! From Don

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on May 20, 2019

Verified Purchase

Best of its kind from Don

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