Welcome to jnd.org, home for my (Don Norman) writings, musing, reviews, and contact information. (What is jnd?). I post my publications (where permitted), excerpts from my books, commentary, and various musings.
I spend half my time with the Nielsen Norman group consulting for industry to produce enjoyable and effective products and services, half my time teaching in two programs at Northwestern University, a one-year graduate program leading to an MS degree in Engineering Design and Innovation (MS-EDI) and in MMM, the two-year joint MBA / Engineering degree program between Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and Northwestern Engineering that focuses upon Design and Operations, half my time serving on advisory boards, and half my time writing and publishing.
Books
I intended my next book to be "Sociable Design" (See Sociable Design and The Psychology of Waiting Lines) but my publisher had a different idea: See "People are from earth, machines are from outer space."). From mid-December 2008 through the end of February, 2009 I'm locking myself away to transform the former into the latter. Then we will see what develops.
Here is the current theme:
I argue in favor of complexity, against the simple-minded notion that things should be simple. Simplicity is boring. We want richness and depth in our lives. Moreover, the world and our activities are inherently complex, so the tools we use must match that complexity. Arguments against compexity are misplaced, i argue (see my essay "Simplicity is not the answer.") We don't want confusion, perplexity, and confusion. Thatis, we want our complex tools and activities to be understandable.
Translations of my books keep appearing. A Portugese (Editora Rocco, Brazil) translation of "Emotional Design" is out as are Japanese and Taiwanese translations of "Design of Future Things." A Mainland Chinese translation (uiGarden: Mainland China) ), as well as translations in Brazil, Italy, Korea, and Spain are underway. Greece is working on a translation of "Design of Everyday Things," which will make it the twelfth country to publish it.
ReQall:
I am officially empowered as "Chief Mentor" of reQall. Call reQall from any phone and speak whatever you want to remember. It then shows up in your email as text, as a voice message, and on a website. Even automatically on your calendar. We worked hard to make it really simple, to eliminate all the features that came to mind. No features, therefore no fuss. Simple and powerful. Developed by a team, some of whom worked with me at Apple. Neat. (The iPhone implementation is cool. I myself use the special Blackberry application.) It is also a teamwork tool. Free.
Schedule
To schedule me for talks, interviews, or consulting, see Press Kit.
Conferences of general interest:
- April 4-9, 2009: Annual SIGCHI Conference: Human Factors in
Computing Systems. Boston, MA.
- June 15-17, 2009. Keynote. UX London Conference. London, UK
- October 19-22, 2009. International Association of Societies of Design Research conference (IASDR 2009), Seoul, Korea.
- November 9-11, 2009. Keynote: Business of Software 2009. San Francisco, CA
- April 10-15, 2010: Annual SIGCHI Conference: Human Factors in Computing Systems. Atlanta, GA.
My Talks. (Some consulting engagements and board meeting are not shown either because they are not public or because of confidentiality agreements.).
- February 5-8, 2009. Human Computer Interaction Consortium, Snow Mountain Ranch, Fraser, Colorado.
- February 21, 2009. Department of Cognitive Science, UCSD. La Jolla, CA
- Entire month of March, 2009: Distinguished Visiting Professor at KAIST: the Department of Industrial Design, Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Daejon, Korea.
- May 29, 2009. Talk at NIST, Gaithersburg, MD
- June 15, 2009. Keynote. UX London Conference. London, UK
- October 19-22, 2009. International Association of Societies of Design Research conference (IASDR 2009), Seoul, Korea.
- November 9, 2009. Keynote: Business of Software 2009. San Francisco, CA
In Praise of Good Design
the complete set is in "In praise of good design." Send products to praise to
No bashing -- just praise. Physical products preferred.
Recent Book Reviews
(the complete set is in "Recommended readings.")
Recent Essays
(The complete set is in "Essays.") (Updated November 26, 2008)
People Are From Earth, Machines Are From Outer Space
People are from earth. Machines are from outer space. I don't know what kind of manners they teach in outer space, but if machines are going to live here in our world, they really need to learn to behave properly. You know, when on Earth, do as the earthlings do. So, hey machines, you need to become socialized. Right now you are arrogant, antisocial, irritating know-it-alls. Sure, you say nice things like “please” and “thank you,” but being polite involves more than words. It is time to socialize our interactions with technology. Sociable machines. Basic lessons in communication skills. Rules of machine etiquette. Machines need to show empathy with the people with whom they interact, understand their point of view, and above all, communicate so that everyone understands what is happening.It never occurs to a machine that the problems might be theirs. Oh no. It's us pesky people who are to blame.
Signifiers, not affordances
One of our fundamental principles is that of perceived affordances: that's one way we know what to do in novel situations. That's fine for objects, but what about situations? What about people, social groups, cultures? Powerful clues arise from what I call social signifiers. A "signifier" is some sort of indicator, some signal in the physical or social world that can be interpreted meaningfully. Signifiers signify critical information, even if the signifier itself is an accidental byproduct of the world. Social signifiers are those that are relevant to social usages. Some social indicators simply are the unintended but informative result of the behavior of others. Social signifiers replace affordances, for they are broader and richer, allowing for accidental signifiers as well as deliberate ones, and even for items that signify by their absence, as the lack of crowds on a train platform. The perceivable part of an affordance is a signifier, and if deliberately placed by a designer, it is a social signifier.
CNN Designers challenged to include disabled
I'm on a campaign to make assistive devices aesthetically delightful -- without impairing effectiveness and cost. Why are things such as canes, wheelchairs so ugly? I urge the skilled industrial designers of this world to revolutionize this arena. Perhaps the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) and the equivalent design societies all over the world ought to sponsor a design contest. The best design schools should encourage design projects for assistive devices that function well, are cost effective (two aspects that are often left out of design schools) as well as fun, pleasurable and fashionable (aspects that are absent from more engineering- or social-sciences -based programs). There are many groups at work in this area: simply do a web search on the phrases "inclusive design" or "universal design" or "accessible design." They do excellent work, but the emphasis is on providing aids and assistance, or changing public policy. All that is both good and essential, but I want to go one step further: add aesthetics, pleasure, and fashion to the mix. Make it so these aids are sought after, fashionable, delightful, and fun. For everyone, which is what the words inclusive, universal, and accessible are supposed to mean. Designers of the world: Unite behind a worthy cause.
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