The Design of Everyday Things

This book is the ultimate guide to human-centered design. Even the smartest among us can feel inept as we fail to figure out which light switch or oven burner to turn on, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door. But the fault lies not with ourselves (or our intelligence), but in product design that ignores the needs of users and the principles of cognitive psychology. The problems range from ambiguous and hidden controls to arbitrary relationships between controls and functions—coupled with a lack of feedback or other assistance—and unreasonable demands on memorization. This book shows that good, usable design is possible. The rules are simple: make things visible; exploit natural relationships that couple function and control; and make intelligent use of constraints.