User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-computer Interaction

by Donald A. Norman (Editor), Stephen W. Draper (Editor)

This comprehensive volume is the product of an intensive collaborative effort among researchers across the United States, Europe and Japan. The result - a change in the way we think of humans and computers.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction

540 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Donald Arthur Norman is an American researcher, professor, and author. Norman is the director of The Design Lab at University of California, San Diego. He is best known for his books on design, especially The Design of Everyday Things. He is widely regarded for his expertise in the fields of design, usability engineering, and cognitive science, and has shaped the development of the field of cognitive systems engineering. He is a co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group, along with Jakob Nielsen. He is also an IDEO fellow and a member of the Board of Trustees of IIT Institute of Design in Chicago. He also holds the title of Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Science at the University of California, San Diego. Norman is an active Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), where he spends two months a year teaching.
Much of Norman's work involves the advocacy of user-centered design. His books all have the underlying purpose of furthering the field of design, from doors to computers. Norman has taken a controversial stance in saying that the design research community has had little impact in the innovation of products, and that while academics can help in refining existing products, it is technologists that accomplish the breakthroughs. To this end, Norman named his website with the initialism JND (just-noticeable difference) to signify his endeavors to make a difference.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, it's a little out of date (erm, first published in 1986). If you look past the now-archaic technical examples, there is plenty of solid theory, upon which many of today's best practices are based.

Like any collection, some essays are stronger than others. But I'd still recommend it for anyone who wants to know more about the theoretical foundations of HCI.