I thought I would be the only one who thought that the first part of the book is significantly better than the rest, but seems like many others agree. I first thought that I’d definitely give it a 5.

I liked the depth in which everyday items were discussed and I also think that in some indirect ways, I’ll be making more conscious decisions in relation to consuming and gifting.

Also, this was written in 2003 but I thought it was an older book. The last part of it would probably resonate more for futurists and sci-fi-enthusiasts, who can just jump into these parts and read.

I enjoyed the way philosophy quotes and even Asimov (a philosopher in a way, too) were placed in the author’s discussions.

Навіть не знаю, кому буде корисна ця книга.

Для спеціалістів з дизайну та маркетингу тут не буде жодних відкриттів. Автор намагається створити вау-ефект на твердженні, що споживач, виявляється, може купити річ, не тому, що вона практична, а тому, що просто гарненька. Власне, на цьому давно побудована ціла індустрія і багатосторінкового занудного підтвердження вона явно не потребує.

Цікаві приклади чи кейси? Мінімум.
Авторські прогнози щодо майбутнього дизайну максимально суперечливі і алогічні.

Однозначно не рекомендую тим, хто орієнтується в поняттях раціональне і нераціональне споживання, вміє розрізняти споживчі потреби і бажання. Адже саме цього намагається навчити автор, і в далеко не найкращій літературній формі.

This book started out strong, but the last half is too dated for my liking. Twenty year old talk about the future of robots hits differently in the midst of an AI revolution. However, there were some interesting points made related to ethics and emotions and how they could be applied to robotic design.

I've long been interested in design issues, and I've read Norman before (seen him speak at a conference, even), but reading a book like this while preparing to pack and move house does add a certain piquancy.

Discussions about how Dan and/or I feel about particular objects are usually somewhat academic, but not when we're deciding what to keep or get rid of!

Took me a while to finish the last chapter (having a kid tends to diminish reading sessions eheh), but it is definitely an interesting read (and introduction) on cognition, emotion and design.

الكتاب يبدأ بوصف مشاعرنا تجاه المنتجات إلي نستخدمها، وكيف نتعامل معها بناءا على ذلك و بعدين يدخل في تعامل الأجهزة معنا ومشاعرها الغير حقيقية مثل الروبوت

المغزى الأساسي بالنسبة لي
لما تحب منتج راح تقدر تبدع أكثر و تستمتع فيه وتتغاضى عن أغلاطه! فالسؤال هو كيف تخلي أحد يحب المنتج حقك؟

Good but not great. I had hoped for something similar to “The Design of Everyday Things,” an understanding of visual appeal that would complement how that book had so richly diagnosed where, how, and why usability succeeds or fails.

While it does show how visual, emotional, and usable design relate to one another, I think the subject is much too large to be able to analyze as efficiently or make as actionable as the insights from TDOET. Having to distill the effects that memory and emotion have on our personal preferences for products doesn’t easily translate to clear design axioms. It’s much too complex of a subject but the book does do a good overview of the main dynamics at play.

However the only practical takeaway can be summed up in a sentence, that visually pleasing products put users in a more flexible and forgiving state of mind when it comes to interpreting how to use something and fixing errors.

I read this for a class, and it is an interesting read. It uses everyday language and has clear examples to illustrate concepts. There is a fair amount about robots at the end which feels a little weird and like it doesn't quite fit with the rest of the book, but overall I really did enjoy reading this.

This is the first book I’ve read on design. I like the focus on the importance of emotions. The first four chapters were interesting to me, then I hit a dead zone and skimmed chapters 5-7, but I enjoyed the epilogue. I’m sure I will look at products in a new way after this.

Also, I like to find arguments against our crappy school system and ways to improve it, so this caught my eye:

p. 205 Robot tutors have great potential for changing the way we teach. Today’s model is far too often that of a pedant lecturing at the front of the classroom, forcing students to listen to material they have no interest in , that appears irrelevant to their daily lives. Lectures and textbooks are the easiest way to teach from the point of view of the teacher, but the least effective for the learner. The most powerful learning takes place when well-motivated students get excited by a topic and then struggle with the concepts, learning how to apply them to issues they care about. Yes, struggle: learning is an active, dynamic process, and struggle is a part of it. But when students care about something the struggle is enjoyable. This is how great teaching has always taken place—not through lecturing, but through apprenticeship, coaching, and mentoring. This is how athletes learn. This is the essence of the attraction of video games, except that in games, what students learn is of little practical value. These methods are well known in the learning sciences, where they are called problem-based, inquiry-learning, or constructivist.
tHere is where emotion plays its part. Students learn best when motivated, when they care. They need to be emotionally involved, to be drawn to the excitement of the topic. This is why examples, diagrams and illustrations, videos and animated illustrations are so powerful. Learning need not be a dull and dreary exercise, not even learning about what are normally considered dull and dreary topics: every topic can be made exciting, every topic excites the emotions of someone, so why not excite everyone? It is time for lessons to become alive, for history to be seen as a human struggle, for students to understand and appreciate the structure of art, music, science, and mathematics. How can these topics be made exciting? By making them relevant to the lives of each individual student. This is often most effective by having students put their skills to immediate application. Developing exciting, emotionally engaging, and intellectually effective learning experiences is truly a design challenge worthy of the best talent in the world.
tRobots, machines, and computers can be of great assistance in instruction by providing the framework for motivated, problem-based learning. Computer learning systems can provide simulated worlds in which students can explore problems in science, literature, history, or the arts. Robot teachers can make it easy to search the world’s libraries and knowledge bases. Human teachers will no longer have to lecture, but instead can spend their time as coaches and mentors, helping to teach not only the topic, but also how best to learn, so that the students will maintain their curiosity through life, as well as the ability to teach themselves when necessary. Human teachers are still essential, but they can play a different, much more supportive and constructive role than they do today.

This is the first time I read about design, leaning more on the cognitive side of it. I really liked and find really useful the three levels of the brain described by Norman: the visceral level, that first gut feeling you get when you see an object; the conductual level, the feeling you get when actually interacting with the object; and the reflexive level, that has more to do with the cognition and your self-image. Even if this book focuses on industrail design, I think you can apply this perspective to all design branches, like architecture, graphic design or interior design.

I didn't feel that the last chapters (Emotional Machines and The Future of Robots) really added something useful. And eight years after Norman wrote the book, some passages of these feel old. But then again, I totally agree with his last remarks of the epilogue: We Are All Designers. We can't find meaning in mass produced products, we must create it ourselves in our everyday interactions.

I have mixed feelings about this. I really enjoyed Don Norman’s other book, The Design of Everyday Things, but I found this one to be lacking in insight at a lot of points. The book discusses the three different levels of emotional design: visceral, behavioral, and reflective. And it started off on a pretty good foot, describing some pretty fun and insightful examples. I particularly enjoyed those, but towards the end, it started getting into territory that was either mundane or obvious. There was a whole section at the end just talking about the autonomy of robots, which felt a little bit of a deviation from the scope of the book. But still a couple of interesting nuggets of information here and there.

Norman's application of the ABC theory of attitude to design is interesting and it works rather well. It's very simple to remember the principles he discusses, but I think he stays a little too long on the subject of emotional robots toward the end of the book, so much so that it began to feel a bit like padding. Regardless, I still use information everyday in my design career.