Overview
Technologies have a life cycle, says Donald Norman, and companies and their products must change as they pass from youth to maturity. However, the computer industry thinks it is still in its teenage years, exulting in technical complexity. The author argues customers want change. They are ready for products that offer convenience, ease of use and pleasure. The technology should be invisible, hidden from sight. This book shows why the computer is so difficult to use and why this complexity is fundamental to its nature. The only answer is to start all over again, to develop information appliances that fit people's needs and lives. To do this, companies have to change the way they develop their products. They must start with an understanding of people: user needs first, technology last - the opposite of how things are done now. Companies need a human-centred developmental process, even if it means reorganizing the entire company.
Full Product Details
Author: Donald A. Norman
Publisher: MIT Press Ltd
Imprint: MIT Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.50cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.499kg
ISBN: 9780262140652
ISBN 10: 0262140659
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 01 September 1998
Recommended Age: From 18 years
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Out of Print
Availability: Out of stock
Reviews
Don Norman's dramatic transformation from design critic to digitaldesigner has made his observations in The Invisible Computer even more insightful and inciteful. Michael Schrage , Research Associate, MIT Media Lab, and authorof Getting Real Don Norman has established himself as high technology's leadingthinker on user interfaces and on why PCs are too complex. -- Wall Street Journal ... the bible of 'post-PC' thinking. -- Business Week
Don Norman's dramatic transformation from design critic to digital designer has made his observations in The Invisible Computer even more insightful and inciteful. --Michael Schrage, Research Associate, MIT Media Lab, and author of Getting Real
Author Information
Business Week has named Don Norman one of the world's most influential designers. He has been both a professor and an executive: he was Vice President of Advanced Technology at Apple; his company, the Nielsen Norman Group, helps companies produce human-centered products and services; and he has been on the faculty at Harvard, the University of California, San Diego, Northwestern University, and KAIST, in South Korea. He is the author of many books, including The Design of Everyday Things, The Invisible Computer (MIT Press), Emotional Design, and The Design of Future Things.
