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.
DBW: Chapter 1. Almost Everything Artificial Has Been Designed
DBWAs I sit down to write, I peer to my left out the window looking south to the scene outside. I live on a steep hill in San Diego, California (the local name is Mount...
March 4, 2023
14 minutes read
DBW: Chapter 35. The Future of Technology
DBWScience, engineering, technology: those who work in these fields never stop creating, dreaming, inventing. I know because I am one of them. I am always thinking of new ideas and new ways of doing things....
March 4, 2023
16 minutes read
DBW: Chapter 6. Overview of the DBW book: Meaningful, Sustainable, Humanity Centered
DBWOur lives are controlled by the measurement tools of science, by the needs of industry. Industry, in turn, is controlled by the economic theories of the world and by the need for currency to pay...
March 4, 2023
13 minutes read
Frontier Design Prize & Speech
DBWI received the Frontier Design Innovation award by the World Design Conference and the Shanghai Municipal Government. My acceptance talk is based on my book, Design for a Better World: Understandable, Sustainable, Humanity Centered (MIT Press, March 21, 2023: talk video is in the post).
September 24, 2022
5 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.
Power of Incrementalism
Humanity CenteredI discuss the power of incremental approaches in Chapters 25-29 (pages 203-216) of Design for a Better World. Here are sources for more information. Podcasts Freakonomics In praise of incrementalism. A 48-minute podcast https://freakonomics.com/podcast/in-praise-of-incrementalism/ What...
September 7, 2022
4 minutes read
Public Garden/Compost
Human BehaviorOslo owns a biogas plant, transforming food waste into biogas, which is used as fuel by buses and garbage collection trucks in the city. Biofertilisers are also produced at the plant and used by farmers...
September 7, 2022
2 minutes read
Irrigation Project
SustainableEngineers Without Borders launched an irrigation project with and for local Ethiopians, to ensure stable and reliable access to water over time. (See https://www.ewb-international.org
August 24, 2022
1 minute read
Humanity-Centered versus Human-Centered Design
DBWHuman-Centered Design works well for mass-produced products and traditional products and services. But today, we owe our allegiance far beyond individual people -- we owe it to all humanity.
February 26, 2022
4 minutes read
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