Essays & Articles
Engineers and business executives are good at solving problems, but they seldom ask if it is the correct problem.
Human- and humanity-centered designers are trained to address the core, underlying factors, not just the symptoms.
Design must change from being unintentionally destructive to being intentionally constructive
From "Design for a Better World." last paragraph of Chapter 2 (page 13).
Failures? No — Learning Experiences
We scientists (and designers) learn from our failures. In fact, scientists seldom fail. Instead, they say “that didn’t work. Time to try something new.” I prefer never to talk of failure. Instead, I say “that...
Don Norman
Simplicity is in the mind, complexity is in the world.
If you understand something, then even things that are complex become simple. The complexity of the product must match the complexity of the task.
Don Norman in the book "Living with Complexity."
I learn more by being wrong than by being right
When people praise my ideas it is nice to hear, but I don’t learn anything. If people disagree, I learn. If they convince me, I am thankful and I change. If I believe I was...
Don Norman
If you can think of a clever solution in a few hours, assume many others have already done so
If you can think of a clever new concept or solution to an existing problem in a few minutes or hours, then you should recognize that many people all over the world, many who have...
Don Norman
Make it Simple? No! Make it Understandable.
Make it Simple? No! Make it Understandable. When people make things "simple" by minimizing controls, they make it much more difficult to work or to understand.
Simplicity is in the mind, Complexity is in the world. Why? Things you understand are simple.
It is the designer’s job to take complex requirements and make them so understandable and appropriate that they are pronounced “simple.”
Don Norman
The universe is made of stories, not atoms
A quote from the poet Muriel Rukeyzer’s book “The speed of darkness.” Why stories? Because they combine history and context, critical events and results, both good and bad, expected and unexpected all linked through causal...
Don Norman
You are being too logical, I often tell engineers and executives.
“You are being too logical,” I explain. “People are not logical. Logic is artificial. It was invented by mathematicians and philosophers. It is not how people think, which is why it is so difficult for...
Design for people the way they are, not for how you want them to be.
Individual Authors
Books And Other General ReadingsPaul Polak If you don’t understand the problem you’ve set out to solve from your customers’ perspective; if your product or service won’t dramatically increase their income; and if you can’t sell 100 million of...
May 19, 2023
4 minutes read
Electric Power: Wind, Water, Sun. (and Nuclear)
Books And Other General ReadingsMark Jacobson’s compelling argument that we must almost all energy sources to be electric. Jacobson, M. Z. (2023). No miracles needed: How today’s technology can save our climate and clean our air. Cambridge, United Kingdom...
May 18, 2023
4 minutes read
The DBW Toolkit (for Learners and Teachers, Both)
ActionFrom the Interaction Design Foundation (IxDF). My Videos plus text by IxDF to cover the major points of the book, with considerable supplementary material.
May 1, 2023
2 minutes read
Journals
Books And Other General ReadingsSustainability JSTOR JSTOR Home JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization helping the academic community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways. The name, JSTOR,...
April 13, 2023
3 minutes read
Engineers and business executives are good at solving problems, but they seldom ask if it is the correct problem.
Human- and humanity-centered designers are trained to address the core, underlying factors, not just the symptoms.
Design must change from being unintentionally destructive to being intentionally constructive
From "Design for a Better World." last paragraph of Chapter 2 (page 13).
Failures? No — Learning Experiences
We scientists (and designers) learn from our failures. In fact, scientists seldom fail. Instead, they say “that didn’t work. Time to try something new.” I prefer never to talk of failure. Instead, I say “that...
Don Norman
Simplicity is in the mind, complexity is in the world.
If you understand something, then even things that are complex become simple. The complexity of the product must match the complexity of the task.
Don Norman in the book "Living with Complexity."
I learn more by being wrong than by being right
When people praise my ideas it is nice to hear, but I don’t learn anything. If people disagree, I learn. If they convince me, I am thankful and I change. If I believe I was...
Don Norman
If you can think of a clever solution in a few hours, assume many others have already done so
If you can think of a clever new concept or solution to an existing problem in a few minutes or hours, then you should recognize that many people all over the world, many who have...
Don Norman
Make it Simple? No! Make it Understandable.
Make it Simple? No! Make it Understandable. When people make things "simple" by minimizing controls, they make it much more difficult to work or to understand.
Simplicity is in the mind, Complexity is in the world. Why? Things you understand are simple.
It is the designer’s job to take complex requirements and make them so understandable and appropriate that they are pronounced “simple.”
Don Norman
The universe is made of stories, not atoms
A quote from the poet Muriel Rukeyzer’s book “The speed of darkness.” Why stories? Because they combine history and context, critical events and results, both good and bad, expected and unexpected all linked through causal...
Don Norman
You are being too logical, I often tell engineers and executives.
“You are being too logical,” I explain. “People are not logical. Logic is artificial. It was invented by mathematicians and philosophers. It is not how people think, which is why it is so difficult for...
Design for people the way they are, not for how you want them to be.
Climate Change: Organizations whose focus is climate change
ActionProject Drawdown https://drawdown.org/ Project Drawdown is both an organization dedicated to deal with Climate Change as well as a book. Hawken, P. (2017). Drawdown: The most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming. New...
April 13, 2023
3 minutes read
UNESCO
ActionUNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) uses education, science, culture, communication and information to foster mutual understanding and respect for our planet. We work to strengthen the intellectual and moral solidarity of humankind...
April 10, 2023
2 minutes read
Books at the United Nations
Books And Other General ReadingsThe Dag Hammarskjöld Climate Change Library https://research.un.org/en/climate-change/introduction A rich, extensive collection of reports, books, journals: See the listing in the image to the right. Their section “Research Guides”at https://research.un.org/en provides helpful information to aid in...
April 10, 2023
1 minute read
Four Essential Books (and a paper)
Books And Other General ReadingsThese four books have been the most essential of my readings to understand the current history of the Global North and the way in which it dominates the world, including creating a European-centered monoculture so...
March 28, 2023
12 minutes read
Highly Relevant Books Published After DBW
Books And Other General Readings(This list has been posted as a resource for all VI sections.) Updated March 26, 2023 I am delighted at the number of books that are now starting to appear that discuss how designers can...
March 20, 2023
18 minutes read
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