Emotional Design By Donald Norman

Title: Emotional Design: Why we love (or hate) everyday things.

Author: Donald Norman

Summary: The book begins, as the last one did, with a few examples of things that Dr. Norman likes around his house, either for their aesthetic value, sentimental value, or practical value. For example, he has a practical teapot, a teapot that would burn your hand if you attempted to pour hot tea from it (called the masochist's teapot), and a teapot that is very pretty but not very practical. He then goes into describing the different aspects of products that exist in our everyday lives cause us to either love them, hate them, or be indifferent to them. For instance, many people love Apple products because they spend more time working on the aesthetic design of the product than say, HP or Dell would. While Apple may not have as large a market share, as say, Microsoft, they have an extremely loyal customer base. In comparison to Microsoft, who has a very large customer base, but without much loyalty, because users get frustrated with their products or find them boring or unpleasing to work with.

He stresses several different factors that come in to play when a product is introduced to market, and its likelihood of success, as well as the different parts of the human thought process that judge a product. The first and most basic thought process is the visceral level, which consists of subconscious instinct and primal drive, such as eating or breathing or being aware of your surroundings. The next level is the behavioral level, which determines the way you go about your daily tasks, such as brushing your teeth or tying your shoes. The next and highest level is the Reflective level, where in depth thinking occurs, and humans are able to contemplate the meanings of things at much higher levels, such as thinking about whether the routine you follow when you drive to work everyday is really the most efficient, or if it could be improved upon.

Shaun's Opinion: As usual with his books, he spends a great deal of time elaborating needlessly over some moderately difficult concepts. He uses a great deal of examples, which is quite helpful, and most of his concepts make a lot of sense and I believe have a lot of real-world value, however he isn't very concise in getting his point across. Basically, the level to which he writes over and over again about the same concept (or maybe slightly changed) is enough to make a person get bored halfway through the book. While I still think this is a great read for anyone who is going to design software or any kind of products, it could definitely be a lot more plainly-put.