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The Invisible Computer
Why Good Products Can Fail, the Personal Computer Is So Complex, and Information Appliances Are the Solution
Donald A. Norman
Technologies have a life cycle, says Donald Norman, and companies and their products must change as they pass from youth to maturity. Alas, the computer industry thinks it is still in its rebellious teenage years, exulting in technical complexity. Customers want change. They are ready for products that offer convenience, ease of use, and pleasure. The technology should be invisible, hidden from sight.
In this book, Norman shows why the computer is so difficult to use and why this complexity is fundamental to its nature. The only answer, says Norman, is to start over again, to develop information appliances that fit people's needs and lives. To do this companies must change the way they develop products. They need to start with an understanding of people: user needs first, technology last—the opposite of how things are done now. Companies need a human-centered development process, even if it means reorganizing the entire company. This book shows how.
About the Author
Donald A. Norman is cofounder of the Nielsen Norman Group, an executive consulting firm that helps companies produce human-centered products and services. Norman is also Professor of Computer Science at Northwestern University. Norman serves as advisor and board member to numerous companies in high technology and consumer products and to non-profit organizations in the area of policy and education.
| "Don Norman's dramatic transformation from design critic to digital designer has made his observations in The Invisible Computer even more insightful and inciteful."
—Michael Schrage, Research Associate, MIT Media Lab, and author of Getting Real
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| Honorable Mention, Business, Management & Accounting category, 1998 Professional/Scholarly Publishing Annual Awards Competition presented by the Association of American Publishers, Inc.
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