Even the smartest among us can feel inept as we fail to figure out which light switch or oven burner to turn on, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door. The fault, argues this ingenious—even liberating—book, lies not in ourselves, but in product design that ignores the needs of users and the principles of cognitive psychology. The problems range from ambiguous and hidden controls to arbitrary relationships between controls and functions, coupled with a lack of feedback or other assistance and unreasonable demands on memorization. The Design of Everyday Things shows that good, usable design is possible. The rules are simple: make things visible, exploit natural relationships that couple function and control, and make intelligent use of constraints. The goal: guide the user effortlessly to the right action on the right control at the right time.

In this entertaining and insightful analysis, cognitive scientist Don Norman hails excellence of design as the most important key to regaining the competitive edge in influencing consumer behavior. Now fully expanded and updated, with a new introduction by the author, The Design of Everyday Things is a powerful primer on how—and why—some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them.

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即使是我们中最聪明的人也会感到无能为力，因为我们无法弄清楚要打开哪个电灯开关或烤箱的炉子，或者是要推、拉、还是滑门。这本具有启发性甚至是解放性的书认为，错误不在于我们自己，而在于产品设计忽视了用户的需求和认知心理学的原则。问题的范围从模糊和隐藏的控制到控制和功能之间的任意关系，再加上缺乏反馈或其他帮助以及对记忆的不合理要求。日常事物的设计》表明，好的、可用的设计是可能的。规则很简单：让东西看得见，利用功能和控制之间的自然关系，并明智地使用约束条件。目标是：引导用户毫不费力地在正确的时间对正确的控件采取正确的行动。

在这个有趣而有洞察力的分析中，认知科学家唐-诺曼将卓越的设计誉为重新获得影响消费者行为的竞争优势的最重要关键。现在，《日常事物的设计》已全面扩展和更新，并附有作者的新介绍，它是一本强有力的入门书，说明了一些产品如何以及为什么能满足顾客，而另一些产品却让他们感到沮丧。