Customer Rating:  
Summary: It's OK - but how can this be the seminal book on usability...?
Comment: Having heard that this was the seminal work in usabiliy, my expectations were probably too high.
Some of the principles laid out are indeed excellent and well illustrated.
The structure of the book is - ironically - not crystal clear. As I am reading the book I find myself looking back at the table of contents to understand the structure.
The writing style is slightly entertaining at first and you sympathize with the author hanging out himself as a clumsy and spacey academic. However, after the first 30 pages the rambling style and the somewhat unstructured content makes the book really boring. I had to push myself to finish it.
What strikes me is the lack of other books in this topic. Despite my criticism I'd be curious to read Norman's new book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Vey fast delivery very prompt service
Comment: very nice delivery very fast response. One of the best sellers at amazon.
will do business any time with them.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Little Dated, but Still Insightful
Comment: Written by a Usability Guru, some of the examples are a little dated, but still valuable for today's usability issues. A good read and well written.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Designing stuff is harder than it looks
Comment: Norman has created an entertaining and enlightening treatise on the psychology of everyday objects. Why do some things work so well while others completely baffle? What distinguishes successful utility from frustration? How does one research and develop successful products? Most importantly, how does one avoid wasting time developing products that are doomed to fail? Many everyday objects are examined for their utility and user-friendliness. Norman uses three basic concepts, Affordances, Constraints, and Mappings to deconstruct everyday objects.
If you are designing Web sites, user interfaces for computer applications, writing manuals, or creating anything that will be used by a human being, this book will help you succeed. Norman encourages you to remove your creativity and ego from the process by affording you the objectivity to examine the goal from the point of view of the user. He shows you how social and cultural constraints can be used to enhance products.
An excellent book but you must understand that using Norman's advice requires no small amount of humility which makes it difficult to sell to established shops. For instance, I know a Web design team that uses the "don't make them think" mantra for many decisions. But they've been using it so long they think they know everything about the best Web interface design. Their prejudices get in the way of successfully developing half of their projects because they can no longer think like users and visitors. They might never be able to use Norman's advice because they'd see it as obvious and pedestrian.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great book for everyone who is involved in user-oriented design
Comment: Even though some people think this is not useful in practice, I strongly believe this is a must read for anyone who designs an artifact for users. A very amusing and thoughtful book. Can even be used as a required reading in many courses such as UI design.
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