The Design of Everyday Things

Originally published in 1988 under the title The Psychology of Everyday Things, The Design of Everyday Things remains a foundational text in the field of HCD nearly 30 years later. Revised and expanded to address the rapid technological advances of the last decades, the book’s longevity attests to the strength of its core thesis—namely, that good design is human-centric. For Norman, the continued relevance of the book rests on the relative stability of people, reflecting his training as a psychologist and cognitive scientist. As he writes, “technologies may change, but people stay the same” (259). Norman is so certain of this that he predicts the book will remain popular for decades to come: “If this revised and expanded edition lasts an equally long time [as the first], that means fifty years of The Design of Everyday Things” (259).

Technology has changed dramatically since the late 1980s, but Norman’s principles of good design remain relevant. Although many of the examples he included in the first edition of his book are no longer applicable and the technology of interaction has undergone radical transformation, Norman’s fundamental design principles of discoverability, feedback,