Don Norman

Don Norman

Design Researcher, Cognitive Scientist

Don Norman is an American researcher, professor, and author widely regarded as a pioneer of user centred design. His influential book The Design of Everyday Things introduced concepts such as affordances and signifiers, fundamentally changing how designers think about the relationship between people and products. He has held positions at Apple, UC San Diego, and Northwestern University, and co-founded the Nielsen Norman Group.

2
Books Written
4
Books Recommended

Books by Don Norman

The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman

The Design of Everyday Things

by Don Norman

star4.3

Norman reveals why badly designed objects frustrate us and how good design makes correct use intuitive. The principles, affordances, feedback, constraints, apply far beyond physical products.

technology
View DetailsBuy
Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things by Don Norman

Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things

by Don Norman

star3.96

In his follow-up to The Design of Everyday Things, Don Norman argues that attractive things actually work better because positive emotions broaden cognition and foster creative problem-solving. He introduces a three-level framework of emotional processing, visceral, behavioural, and reflective, that explains why users develop deep attachments to certain products. The book bridges cognitive science and design practice, showing why aesthetics and emotion are not luxuries but essential components of good design.

designscience
View DetailsBuy

Most Recommended by Don

The books Don Norman references, cites, and recommends most frequently.

The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick Brooks

The Mythical Man-Month

by Frederick Brooks

star4

Brooks argues that adding more programmers to a late project makes it later - a principle now known as Brooks' Law. The deeper insight: software complexity grows faster than headcount, making communication the real bottleneck.

technologybusiness
View DetailsBuy
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Thinking, Fast and Slow

by Daniel Kahneman

star4.2

Kahneman reveals that our minds run on two systems: fast intuition and slow deliberation. Most errors in judgement come from trusting System 1 when the situation demands System 2's careful analysis.

psychology
View DetailsBuy
Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Flow

by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

star4.1

Csikszentmihalyi identifies the state of total absorption where time vanishes and performance peaks. Flow is not random, it arises from clear goals, immediate feedback, and matched challenge.

psychology
View DetailsBuy
Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

Emotional Intelligence

by Daniel Goleman

star4

Goleman argues that EQ matters more than IQ for success. Self-awareness, empathy, and emotional regulation are skills that can be developed and that predict real-world outcomes.

psychologyself-help
View DetailsBuy

Influence Map

Who Don draws from, and who draws from Don — aggregated across every book in this collection. Counts show the number of citation links, not the depth of each one.

Don cites most often

  1. 1Frederick Brooks
    1 link
  2. 2Daniel Kahneman
    1 link
  3. 3Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
    1 link
  4. 4Daniel Goleman
    1 link

Authors who cite Don most often

  1. 1Josh Kaufman
    1 link
  2. 2David Thomas
    1 link
  3. 3Dan Olsen
    1 link
  4. 4Steve Krug
    1 link
  5. 5Jeff Gothelf, Josh Seiden
    1 link
  6. 6Alan Cooper, Robert Reimann, David Cronin, Christopher Noessel
    1 link
  7. 7Jon Yablonski
    1 link
  8. 8Tom Greever
    1 link