Reviews: Book Reviews

Scientists consider homo sapiens to be the most intelligent species among all life on Earth. Primarily through our use of technology and tools, we have become the apex predator and dominate the planet. Thus, despite troublesome viral pandemics such as COVID-19, the shot-in-the-dark possibilities of collisions with an asteroid or space junk, global warming, or the inevitable death of our Sun, we humans should, as a species, expect to have a long and prosperous existence.

While the human species is very successful as a whole, we tend to perform very poorly individually. Perhaps rightly, people imagine themselves the most intelligent form of life on Earth. However, on an individual basis, people are prone to many follies. We eat too much, exercise too little, waste resources, and engage in unhealthy or risky behavior that we know to be harmful—such as smoking or excessive drinking. Decisions on how to administer society are similarly troubled. People overestimate their abilities and knowledge and underestimate how much they should invest for retirement. Read More

In recent years, the perception of UX design has changed dramatically. In the profession’s early days, less mature organizations frequently treated UX professionals as another type of graphic designer, as though UX designers were synonymous with Web designers. But, in today’s leading organizations, UX design is a strategic capability that drives innovation and enhances competitiveness. Similarly, the role of UX professionals has shifted beyond creating functional—if not delightful—user experiences by applying usability, information architecture, and design principles. Now, UX professionals are applying more of their understanding of psychology and human behavior to devising design principles in the service of persuasion. Read More

After reviewing some more recently published books, I decided to review a title among the foundational writings for User Experience: Don Norman’s The Design of Everyday Things. This book was originally published in 1988 and has been expanded and updated to apply the principles of human-centered design to Web sites, software, and mobile apps.

Don Norman is a key figure in the history of UX design and the second N of the Nielsen Norman Group. Norman began his career as an electrical engineer, then later earned a PhD in Psychology. His contributions as a researcher and UX consultant have spanned decades. Highlights of his career include his research into the Three Mile Island nuclear accident and his five-year stint as Vice President of the Advanced Technology Group (ATG) at Apple in the mid-1990s. His writings and talks have been widely credited as foundational to our application of psychology to product design and our understanding of the relationship between people and technology. Read More