*Reading his work transformed my relationship to the world.
*It's exhilirating to see the world without so much varnish on it. The upshot of Norman's acid critique was to expand my understanding, and to make me more forgiving of people and things – even though, just like the maestro here, I know they don't really work.
*Nowadays, whenever I see some vital technology stuck for decades in a briar thicket, peat bog or a ditch, or users plummeting like lemmings straight off a cliff in some vague pretense that it's the road ahead, I do not foam, or fret, or denounce a conspiracy. Rather, I tighten my belt and I justly conclude: "it's inherently difficult to navigate a complex terrain of hurdles, constraints, technologies, opportunities, fundamental needs, competitive strategies, core competencies, and market adoption forces."
http://interactions.acm.org/content/?p=1286
(...)
"A successful product or service has to navigate a complex terrain of hurdles, constraints, technologies, and opportunities. There are myriad market forces, fundamental needs, competitive strategies, core competencies, and market adoption forces. And the product must deliver its promises, not only functioning well, but also providing pleasure in the interaction.
"This list only scratches the surface. I have deliberately left out numerous critical issues that determine a product’s viability and I am certain to have unwittingly left out even more.
"How to negotiate this thicket of issues is the subject of many books and specialized seminars. Not all companies manage, and even those that do face occasional failures. To me, however, the most important aspect for the delivery of a cohesive experience is systems thinking. It is amazing how few companies understand and practice this. Let me give some examples.
"There are many great digital cameras available today. (((I'm about to go buy one, because the dying digital one I have in my pocket has dust – not on its lens, but inside it, on its imaging chip.))) Most are attractive and take good pictures; some are even relatively easy to use. But many camera companies wrongly believe that the product is all there is to the camera.
"The product is more than the product. I have seen the initial enthusiasm for wonderful cameras destroyed because of the many hurdles to first use. Beautiful cameras are packaged in nondescript, hermetically sealed boxes. Opening the box for the first time is an operation fit for a hammer and saw (sometimes literally), with occasional damage to one’s body or the product in the process. The manual for one of my digital appliances still bears bloodstains.
"And even when the product is finally extracted from the box - with its intimidating installation discs, legal warnings, and manuals - it cannot be used until a lengthy battery-charging procedure is complete. The initial excitement falls prey to lengthy, complex manuals in umpteen languages, which start not with a joyful opening statement, but with lengthy legal warnings about dangers and misuse. Amazing negligence lurks in the hearts of companies...."
(((Once you read Donald Norman, a story like the following becomes simple as pie. Brilliant, groundbreaking industrial design at work on that iPhone! But it stops as soon as the towers start:)))
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/technology/companies/03att.html?_r=1&hp
(((If you blame the megacorp for not building towers, they blame the town for not allowing towers. If you ask the mayor why, he'd point to the part of the population that didn't vote for him. Meaning you. Yes, you. The final cruel lesson of systems thinking is that (a) the system is all YOUR fault somehow, even though you never asked to be born and then you die and (B) realistically, there's nothing much you can do, because of all those other hapless guys. Paper, or plastic?)))
