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Don Norman

Don Norman is co-founder and Principal Emeritus of Nielsen Norman Group. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, has been awarded three honorary degrees, and is the founder and director of the Design Lab at the University of California, San Diego.

Articles and Videos

  • Apple's products are getting harder to use because they ignore principles of design

    Today, the products are beautiful, but for many of us, confusing. The fonts are pleasant to the eye, but difficult to read. The principle of "discoverability" has been lost. The only way to know what to do in many situations is to have memorized the action.

  • The Paradox of Wearable Technologies (at jnd.org)

    Can wearable devices be helpful? Absolutely. But they can also be horrid. It all depends upon whether we use them to focus and augment our activities or to distract. It is up to us, and up to those who create these new wearable wonders to decide which it is to be. Article available at Technology Review.

  • Suggested Readings From Design of Everyday Things, Revised edition (at jnd.org)

    Don Norman's list of general books for interaction design from the 2013 revision and expansion of the book "Design of Everyday Things."

  • Complexity is Good, Simplicity Overrated (at jnd.org)

    Misc Magazine asked if I would contribute an essay on "simplicity." "No," I responded, "but I'll write on complexity. So here it is. (Readers of my book "Living with Complexity" will find this familiar.)

  • Gadgets? Who, me? (at jnd.org)

    Misc Magazine liked my essay on "complexity," so they asked me to write on gadgets. What? To my great surprise, I complied.

  • Great Design Always Means Great Style (at jnd.org)

    Style refers to the way of doing something and although we usually use it in the positive sense, the word itself is neutral, referring only to the manner by which something is done. Style can be coarse and ugly, brutish and dangerous. The best styles, including both those we respect and prefer and those we detest, are true and honest, consistent and coherent.

  • Manufacturing, Design, and Innovation (at jnd.org)

    This is an expanded version of my welcoming address to the "Workshop on Building the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation," September 27, 2012, held at the western conference center of the National Academies, Irvine, California. Website

  • What Moves? Culture & Interaction Design (at jnd.org)

    When What Is Natural For Some Is Not for Others: Culture and Design.

  • Rethinking Design Thinking (at jnd.org)

    A powerful myth has arisen upon the land: That designers possess some mystical, creative thought process that places them above all others in their skills at creative, groundbreaking thought.

  • Making Web Advertisements Work

    Web users are highly goal-driven, and ads that interfere with their goals will be ignored. To succeed, ads must work with the medium, as well as with the user's aims and mindset.