Things That Make Us Smart

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Building on the insights of The Design of Everyday Things and Turn Signals Are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles , cognitive scientist Norman continues his lively assault on ``machine-centered'' design, arguing for appropriate technologies scaled to human need and cognitive capacity. A fellow at Apple Computer, Norman considers poorly or well-designed ``cognitive artifacts'' ranging from filing cabinets to medical prescriptions and the information displays used on electronic devices. He ponders the frustrations of using telephone voice-messaging systems, faults today's multimedia classrooms for gimmickry and suggests ``human-centered'' designs for computers, telephones and post-office stamp machines. Readers interested in making the work environment or the task fit the person (instead of the other way around) will find many tips in this thoughtful critique. Illustrated . (May)

Library Journal

By virtue of their design, machines shape the way we relate to the world. Moreover--as anyone who has been annoyed by voice message systems can testify--many technological ``advances'' that are efficient from the engineering point of view are of dubious value to those who must use them. In this highly readable book, Norman, author of Turn Signals Are the Facial Expres sions of Automobiles (Addison-Wesley, 1992), offers an intriguing look at the nature and characteristics of human intelligence. He argues that it is time for us to adopt a more human-centered perspective and to insist that informational technologies enhance and complement human cognitive capacities rather than undermine them. Entertaining anecdotes, puzzles, graphics, and speculations regarding future possibilities flesh out this wise and witty book. Recommended for academic and public libraries. --Elise Chase, Forbes Lib., Northampton, Mass.

Bryce Christensen

Amazement at today's remarkable information technologies should not blind us to the fact that misusing them can dehumanize users. Norman, the author of "The Design of Everyday Things" (1990), cautions readers against technocratic thinking that tries to redesign human characteristics in order to exploit electronic possibilities. Certain mental attributes--distractibility, for instance, or capriciousness--may count as defects with experts enamored of computer flow charts. To attempt to eliminate such fundamentally human characteristics, however, is to close the doors of imagination, which will lead to sterility, not progress. Similarly, although the human craving for privacy frustrates efforts to compile huge databases, technicians who ignore that craving may let loose monstrous political and social impulses. Norman outlines a vision of the future in which technologists develop tools (in education, industry, transportation, and entertainment) for enlarging--not displacing or manipulating--distinctively human attributes. His lucid style underscores his main theme by focusing on the concerns of general readers rather than the technicalities of formulas.