Donald A. Norman Quotes

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Attractive things work better.

Knowing how people will use something is essential

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.

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

What makes something simple or complex? It's not the number of dials or controls or how many features it has: It is whether the person using the device has a good conceptual model of how it operates.

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.

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.

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

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.

A good designer will actually design the company.

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.

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

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

People Propose, Science Studies, Technology Conforms.

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

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

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

I think a successful company is one where everybody owns the same mission. Out of necessity, we divide ourselves up into discipline groups. But the goal when you are actually doing the work is to somehow forget what discipline group you are in and come together. So in that sense, nobody should own user experience; everybody should own it.