The ultimate guide to human-centered design

Actually the smartest in our midst can experience inept once we fail to figure out which light switch or oven burner to turn about, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door.

The fault, argues this ingenious — even liberating — book, lies not in ourselves, but in item design that ignores the needs of users as well as the principles of cognitive psychology. The problems range between ambiguous and concealed controls to arbitrary human relationships between controls and functions, in conjunction with too little feedback or other assistance and unreasonable needs on memorization.

THE LOOK of Everyday Things demonstrates good, usable design can be done. The rules are simple: make factors visible, exploit natural relationships that couple function and control, and make smart use of constraints. The goal: guide an individual effortlessly to the proper action on the right control at the right time.

The Design of Everyday Things is a robust primer on how — and why — some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them.