The Design of Everyday Things Audiobook by Donald A. Norman
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Title: The Design of Everyday Things Author: Donald A. Norman Narrator: Peter Berkrot Format: Unabridged Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins Language: English Release date: 08-29-11 Publisher: Tantor Audio Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 666 votes Genres: Science & Technology, Technology

Publisher's Summary: First, businesses discovered quality as a key competitive edge; next came science. Now, Donald A. Norman, former Director of the Institute for Cognitive Science at the University of California, reveals how smart design is the new frontier. The Design of Everyday Things is a powerful primer on how - and why - some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them.

Critic Reviews: "Provocative." ( Time)

Members Reviews: Badly needs updating The original title for this book was "The Psychology of Everyday Things" and it has not been updated since 1988. It contains mostly pop psychology insights from the '80s rather than design ideas, so if you are looking for information on the actual design process you will be disappointed. Many of the psychological insights have been refined and unpdated in the two decades since publication and what must have been insightful and modern at the time now seems obvious or too simplistic. The performance is terrible. The narrator has a Shatner-esque delivery where he randomly speeds up and slows down his reading and then dramatically drops his volume at the end of sentances. I honestly thought there was a problem with my stereo before I figured out he was doing it on purpose. The author mentions in his new preface that the ideas in the book are timeless and therefore he didn't think it needed updating. However, a significant amount of speculation is done by the author about what computers in the future will be capable of--all of which has already come to pass. There is simply no need for an entire chapter fantasizing about a future where you can have an electronic appointment book. Apparently, the book is considered a classic in the design and engineering world, but until it is updated it only has value as a historic document.

Much Insight a Little Dated I have two rules; avoid abridgements and watch out for older texts on contemporary topics. The Design of Everyday Things was produced several years ago and it shows. While it is just filled with worthy insight, much of the material is dated.

It's okay, but... This text is often required reading for design and usability students, however in 2016 this text is very dated. I would highly suggest just reading chapters one, two, and the last chapter; everything else is just a lot of stories and examples. There are some great takeaways in this book, but they are few and far in-between.

A bit dated. Narration is good and keeps your interest. The idea that we should blame bad design and not ourselves for mistake is stated repeatedly throughout the book. To my disappointment I found the examples to be dated. He discusses VCRs as if they were more commonly used than DVDs. At one point he said he envisioned a portable computer that could be taken anywhere plugged into a phone within 5 years. How long has the iPhone been out? It would have been nice if the book updated before making into an audiobook. Turns out that this audiobook was recently released (making it seem like it was a new book) but had been written several years ago.

Old version This is an old version of the book. The newest version includes new ideas and more relevant example. It's so old that a lot of the examples used to illustrate points are somewhat alien to the modern reader. Also the newer version has updated and refined theories. Still somewhat useful.