Review by Choice Review
Norman (Northwestern Univ.) is a distinguished cognitive psychologist who changed his focus in mid-career to study product design. His The Psychology of Everyday Things (CH, Oct'88; subsequently retitled The Design of Everyday Things) has become a classic. Whereas the earlier book emphasized practicality and functionality in the design of common objects, the present volume deals with the emotional qualities of products. Norman examines teapots, headsets, watches, and robots to identify the ways that emotional factors interact with rational features to make products succeed or fail. The author believes that products must be considered in terms of their functionality, their emotional impact, and their contribution to the identity of the owner. He is also interested in how the emotional aspects of products evolve over the years, and he devotes a portion of the book to discussing how robots and computer products of the future are likely to have sophisticated emotional connections with those who purchase them. The book looks at products in new ways and helps readers appreciate the ways things can affect emotional equilibrium. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Academic libraries serving undergraduate programs in psychology, art, engineering, and industrial design; public libraries. R. Madigan University of Alaska, Anchorage
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Computer science professor Norman also advises design firms. He brings his background in academics and business to bear on the emotional valence surrounding objects of daily use, be they kitchen utensils, automobiles, or a football coach's headset. Norman's analysis of people's emotional reactions to material objects is a delightful process, replete with surprises for readers who have rarely paused to consider why they like or loathe their belongings. He breaks down emotional reactions into three parts, labeled visceral, behavioral, and reflective, asserting that a successful design has to excel at all levels. Norman's examples of items ranging from bottles to hand tools fulfill this dictum, although he feels that designers do not often take emotion into account when formulating what an object should look like. With household robots on the horizon, Norman implores designers to redeem their mistakes in designing personal computers. His readers will take away insights galore about why shoppers say, I want that. --Gilbert Taylor Copyright 2003 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Techno author Norman, a professor of computer science and cofounder of a consulting firm that promotes human-centered products, extends the range of his earlier work, The Design of Everyday Things, to include the role emotion plays in consumer purchases. According to Norman, human decision making is dependent on both conscious cognition and affect (conscious or subconscious emotion). This combination is why, for example, a beautiful set of old mechanical drawing instruments greatly appealed to Norman and a colleague: they evoked nostalgia (emotion), even though they both knew the tools were not practical to use (cognition). Human reaction to design exists on three levels: visceral (appearance), behavioral (how the item performs) and reflective. The reflective dimension is what the product evokes in the user in terms of self-image or individual satisfaction. Norman's analysis of the design elements in products such as automobiles, watches and computers will pique the interest of many readers, not just those in the design or technology fields. He explores how music and sound both contribute negatively or positively to the design of electronic equipment, like the ring of a cell phone or beeps ("Engineers wanted to signal that some operation had been done.... The result is that all of our equipment beeps at us"). Norman's theories about how robots (referred to here as emotional machines) will interact with humans and the important jobs they will perform are intriguing, but weigh down an already complex text. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Norman (computer science, Northeastern Univ.) here expands on his earlier works (e.g., The Psychology of Everyday Things), advancing the idea that the emotional qualities of the things that surround us (largely products) have as much-or more-impact than their technical or logistical considerations and should be designed accordingly. Beginning at an elementary level (teapots and juicers), moving into cars and cell phones, and then settling on robots for the last several chapters, Norman effectively demonstrates that people have more rewarding relationships with the things in their lives that bring them joy to use than those that don't. While this may seem to be an elementary concept, the book is littered with familiar examples in which designers held such ideas in contempt or ignored them altogether. While the initial chapters are generally breezy and will appeal to a broader audience, the book tends to bog down at the end, where casual readers might find lengthy ruminations regarding their kitchen robot's ability to butter toast a tad esoteric. Recommended for academic libraries, particularly those with collections in robotics.-Phil Hamlett, Turner & Assocs., San Francisco (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
