Donald Norman Quotations

In my opinion, no single design is apt to be optimal for everyone.

To me, error analysis is the sweet spot for improvement.

So what does a good teacher do? Create tension - but just the right amount.

We expert teachers know that motivation and emotional impact are what matter.

I prefer design by experts - by people who know what they are doing.

I think there is a tendency in science to measure what is measurable and to decide that what you cannot measure must be uninteresting.

The problem with emotion was that it was clearly something important, but-at least according to the old philosophy-it was something to overcome.

And to get real work experience, you need a job, and most jobs will require you to have had either real work experience or a graduate degree.

User-centered design means working with your users all throughout the project.

Market segmentation s a natural result of the vast differences among people.

It is relatively easy to design for the perfect cases, when everything goes right, or when all the information required is available in proper format.

Also note that invariably when we design something that can be used by those with disabilities, we often make it better for everyone.

Beauty and brains, pleasure and usability - they should go hand in hand.

Sure, one can always get the students to relax and be happy - entertained, but although being laid back and relax can also lead to creativity, mostly it means that nothing much gets done.

Am I an Apple bigot? No. I can critique their products and their customer service philosophy. But overall, they do better than any other player.

Knowing how people will use something is essential.

I believe that robots should only have faces if they truly need them.

If you think the products don't match what you want from a product, don't buy it.

Our information lives will be better served when we are free to get to our information from wherever we are, with any device available.

Readers always seem to think that the author has some control over the design of their books.

A big ethical question is what happens after people stop using the device. Does it degrade the environment? Could it have been designed so it would actually be good for the environment?

As for all those mistakes I make - they are on purpose - to teach you how to deal with them.

I've been looking at the iPod- the Apple iPod. One of the interesting things about the iPod, one of the things that people love most about it is not the technology; it's the box it comes in.

The profit margin index is well above the 50%-level, indicating that, for most firms, profit margins are higher than one year ago, when margins were showing improvement from their depressed levels throughout 2001-2002.

I believe that the Apple Shuffle is an excellent compromise among the conflicting requirements of simplicity, elegance, size, battery life, and function.

Just 8% of the respondents reported that backlogs are down from last year, while 66% said that backlogs are higher.

While a few manufacturing industries--in particular, the auto industry -- face challenges, the overall manufacturing sector appears to be on very solid footing for at least the near term.

Isn't one of your first exercises in learning how to communicate to write a description of how to tie your shoelaces? The point being that it's basically impossible to use text to show that.

This forward-looking index points to continued expansion in most manufacturing industries.

This forward-looking index indicates broad optimism that the expansion of manufacturing activity will continue throughout the year.

How do you discover a need that nobody yet knows about? This is where the product breakthroughs come through.