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March 16, 2001 — 4 PM

An interview with Donald Norman,

An interview with Donald Norman, author of one of my favourite books, The Design of Everyday Things.

Norman preaches "user-centric design," which is to say that he thinks tools ought to make sense to the people that use them, not to the people that design them (although both is nice).

He also talks at length about learning and knowledge. Norman believes that people gain knowledge when they need it to accomplish a task or solve a problem. Anyone who sat through high school math class — and last I checked, that was every last one of you suckers — can appreciate this. "Let x equal..." might as well be secret code for, "You are getting very sleepy..."

Obviously there is a place for philosophy majors in the world. But this guy just makes too much sense. Good food for thought (for those whose thoughts are about learning and design anyway).

Wanna know more about the man? Check out the Don Norman home page.

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Previously: “The damndest odd cigarette ad

Subsequently: Yessiree, getting lots of work

March 2001
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