Donald A. Norman is a professor emeritus of cognitive science at University of California, San Diego and a Professor of Computer Science at Northwestern University, but nowadays works mostly with cognitive science in the domain of usability engineering. He also teaches at Stanford University and is a member of the editorial board of Encyclopædia Britannica. He currently splits his time between consulting and his teaching and research at Northwestern and Stanford. A professor is a senior teacher and researcher, usually in a college or university. ... Cognitive science is usually defined as the scientific study either of mind or of intelligence (e. ... The University of California, San Diego (popularly known as UCSD) is a public, coeducational university located in La Jolla, California. ... A professor giving a lecture The meaning of the word professor (Latin: one who claims publicly to be an expert) varies. ... Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems. ... Northwestern University is a prestigious private, coeducational, non-sectarian research university, located in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois. ... Cognitive science is usually defined as the scientific study either of mind or of intelligence (e. ... Usability engineering is a subset of human factors that is specific to computer science and is concerned with the question of how to design software that is easy to use. ... The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University (or simply Stanford), is a private university located approximately 37 miles (60 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco and approximately 20 miles northwest of San José in an unincorporated area of Santa Clara County. ... The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general encyclopedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. ...

Norman's earlier books deal mostly with usability or with cognitive psychology, but Things That Make Us Smart also makes a few remarks of critical nature regarding our society, in particular Norman dislikes the content-less nature of television and bad museum exhibits. Lately he has tended to focus on the positive. He loves products which are enjoyable to use, a feature which he attributes to putting together emotion and design, or heart and mind. He has explained this in detail in his book Emotional Design. Young people interacting within an ethnically diverse society. ... The Louvre Museum in Paris, one of the largest and most famous museums in the world. ...

He is a promoter of the concept of information appliances, which he has covered in his book The Invisible Computer. An information appliance (IA) is any device that can process information, signals, graphics, animation, video and audio; and can exchange such information with another IA device. ...

He co-founded the Nielsen Norman Group, a consulting group on matters of usability which also includes Jakob Nielsen and Bruce "Tog" Tognazzini. Nielsen Norman Group is a usability consulting company created by well-known user experience experts Donald Norman, Jakob Nielsen, and Bruce Tognazzini. ... Jakob Nielsen (born 1957 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a writer, speaker, and consultant on software and web-design usability. ... Bruce Tognazzini is a usability consultant in partnership with Donald Norman and Jakob Nielsen in the Nielsen Norman Group, which specializes in human computer interaction. ...

Career

Norman has a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from MIT and a Doctor of Philosophy in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds a honorary degree from the University of Padua in Padua, Italy. He has been a professor of computer science (at Northwestern University), psychology and cognitive science (at University of California, San Diego). He has also worked for Apple Computer as Vice President of Apple's Advanced Technology Group and for Hewlett-Packard. A Bachelor of Science (B.S., B.Sc. ... Electrical Engineers design power systems… … and complex electronic circuits. ... Mapúa Institute of Technology (MIT, MapúaTech or simply Mapúa) is a private, non-sectarian, Filipino tertiary institute located in Intramuros, Manila. ... Doctor of Philosophy (from Greek , meaning Teacher of Philosophy), typically abbreviated Ph. ... Psychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. ... This article is about the private university in Philadelphia. ... Gymnasivm Patavinum: The Universitys main Bo palace shown in a 1654 woodcut The University of Padua (Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is one of the most well-renowned universities in Italy. ... Tronco Maestro Riviera: a pedestrian walk along a section of the inland waterway or naviglio interno of Padua. ... A professor giving a lecture The meaning of the word professor (Latin: one who claims publicly to be an expert) varies. ... Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems. ... Northwestern University is a prestigious private, coeducational, non-sectarian research university, located in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois. ... Psychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. ... Cognitive science is usually defined as the scientific study either of mind or of intelligence (e. ... The University of California, San Diego (popularly known as UCSD) is a public, coeducational university located in La Jolla, California. ... Apple Inc. ... The Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), commonly known as HP, is a very large, global company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. ...

Norman was the 2006 recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science [1].

Partial bibliography

Psychology

• Human information processing: An introduction to psychology (1975) in collaboration with Peter H. Lindsay (first author)
• Memory and attention (1977)
• Learning and memory (1982)

Usability

• Direct manipulation interfaces (1985) in collaboration with E. L. Hutchins (first author) and J.D. Hollan
• User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction (1986)(editor in collaboration with Stephen Draper)
• The Design of Everyday Things (1988, originally under the title The Psychology of Everyday Things)
• Turn signals are the facial expressions of automobiles (1992)
• Things That Make Us Smart (1993)
• The Invisible Computer (1999)
• Emotional Design (2003)

Emotional Design is both the title of a book by Donald Norman and of the concept it represents. ...

User Centered Design

In his book "The Design of Everyday Things", originally called "The Psychology of Everyday Things," Donald A. Norman describes the psychology behind what he deems 'good' and 'bad' design through case studies and proposes design principles. He exalts the importance of design in our everyday lives, and the consequences of errors caused by bad design.

In his book, Norman uses the term "user-centered design" to describe design based on the needs of the user, leaving aside what he deems secondary issues like aesthetics. User-centered design involves simplifying the structure of tasks, making things visible, getting the mapping right, exploiting the powers of constraint, and designing for error. Creating user interfaces that meet the users needs and expectations requires careful consideration of the actual context of usage. ...

Other topics of the book include:

• The Psychopathology of Everyday Things
• The Psychology of Everyday Actions
• Knowledge in the Head and in the World
• Knowing What to Do
• To Err Is Human
• The Design Challenge

See also

• affordance
• executive system
• usability engineering
• Human action cycle
• Interaction Design
• User-centered design

An affordance is a property of an object, or a feature of the immediate environment, that indicates how to interface with that object or feature. ... The executive system is a theorised cognitive system in psychology that controls and manages other cognitive processes. ... Usability engineering is a subset of human factors that is specific to computer science and is concerned with the question of how to design software that is easy to use. ... The human action cycle is a psychological model which describes the steps humans take when they interact with computer systems. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Creating user interfaces that meet the users needs and expectations requires careful consideration of the actual context of usage. ...

External links

• Donald's homepage
• Publications by Donald Norman from Interaction-Design.org
• List of Don Norman articles
• Don Norman — Userati