Don Norman
Design is really an act of communication, which means having a deep understanding of the person with whom the designer is communicating.
Principles of design:
- Use both knowledge in the world and knowledge in the head.
- Simplify the structure of tasks.
- Make things visible: bridge gulfs between Execution and Evaluation.
- Get the mappings right.
- Exploit the power of constraints.
- Design for error.
- When all else fails, standardize.
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
In design, one of the most difficult activities is to get the specifications right
Fail often, fail fast
Any time you see signs or labels added to a device, it is an indication of bad design
What makes something simple or complex? Itβs 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.
β Donald A. Norman