The Design of Everyday Things
Revised and Expanded Edition
by Don Norman
10 more
More Recommenders
“@TosinOyinloye_ Better to read wide bro. ”The Design of Everyday Things” is one book I still love as it takes one deeper into the field and breaks many assumptions. | @evankstone Yes!! His book changed my entire perception of the world around me when I started my career in UX! | Don Norman's book was a huge Nudge inspiration. Greatest cover image ever. Teapot with handle & spout on same side. | I normally don't share what I read on Shabbat, preferring to share my favorite books at the end of the year. However, I will say that the chapter in The Design of Everyday Things on human error is perfect reading for Shabbat Shuva and repentance. | If you design bad paths for your users no matter how obscure, they will find them. Keep the happy path simple and avoid complexity. This and many other great #design wisdoms in The Design of Everyday Things. Great book from @jnd1er. | Q: @tobi #asktobi what are your favorite books/resources on product @claudiahumbert A:”
Source →“@TosinOyinloye_ Better to read wide bro. ”The Design of Everyday Things” is one book I still love as it takes one deeper into the field and breaks many assumptions. | @evankstone Yes!! His book changed my entire perception of the world around me when I started my career in UX! | Don Norman's book was a huge Nudge inspiration. Greatest cover image ever. Teapot with handle & spout on same side. | I normally don't share what I read on Shabbat, preferring to share my favorite books at the end of the year. However, I will say that the chapter in The Design of Everyday Things on human error is perfect reading for Shabbat Shuva and repentance. | If you design bad paths for your users no matter how obscure, they will find them. Keep the happy path simple and avoid complexity. This and many other great #design wisdoms in The Design of Everyday Things. Great book from @jnd1er. | Q: @tobi #asktobi what are your favorite books/resources on product @claudiahumbert A:”
Source →“@TosinOyinloye_ Better to read wide bro. ”The Design of Everyday Things” is one book I still love as it takes one deeper into the field and breaks many assumptions. | @evankstone Yes!! His book changed my entire perception of the world around me when I started my career in UX! | Don Norman's book was a huge Nudge inspiration. Greatest cover image ever. Teapot with handle & spout on same side. | I normally don't share what I read on Shabbat, preferring to share my favorite books at the end of the year. However, I will say that the chapter in The Design of Everyday Things on human error is perfect reading for Shabbat Shuva and repentance. | If you design bad paths for your users no matter how obscure, they will find them. Keep the happy path simple and avoid complexity. This and many other great #design wisdoms in The Design of Everyday Things. Great book from @jnd1er. | Q: @tobi #asktobi what are your favorite books/resources on product @claudiahumbert A:”
Source →“@TosinOyinloye_ Better to read wide bro. ”The Design of Everyday Things” is one book I still love as it takes one deeper into the field and breaks many assumptions. | @evankstone Yes!! His book changed my entire perception of the world around me when I started my career in UX! | Don Norman's book was a huge Nudge inspiration. Greatest cover image ever. Teapot with handle & spout on same side. | I normally don't share what I read on Shabbat, preferring to share my favorite books at the end of the year. However, I will say that the chapter in The Design of Everyday Things on human error is perfect reading for Shabbat Shuva and repentance. | If you design bad paths for your users no matter how obscure, they will find them. Keep the happy path simple and avoid complexity. This and many other great #design wisdoms in The Design of Everyday Things. Great book from @jnd1er. | Q: @tobi #asktobi what are your favorite books/resources on product @claudiahumbert A:”
Source →“@TosinOyinloye_ Better to read wide bro. ”The Design of Everyday Things” is one book I still love as it takes one deeper into the field and breaks many assumptions. | @evankstone Yes!! His book changed my entire perception of the world around me when I started my career in UX! | Don Norman's book was a huge Nudge inspiration. Greatest cover image ever. Teapot with handle & spout on same side. | I normally don't share what I read on Shabbat, preferring to share my favorite books at the end of the year. However, I will say that the chapter in The Design of Everyday Things on human error is perfect reading for Shabbat Shuva and repentance. | If you design bad paths for your users no matter how obscure, they will find them. Keep the happy path simple and avoid complexity. This and many other great #design wisdoms in The Design of Everyday Things. Great book from @jnd1er. | Q: @tobi #asktobi what are your favorite books/resources on product @claudiahumbert A:”
Source →“@TosinOyinloye_ Better to read wide bro. ”The Design of Everyday Things” is one book I still love as it takes one deeper into the field and breaks many assumptions. | @evankstone Yes!! His book changed my entire perception of the world around me when I started my career in UX! | Don Norman's book was a huge Nudge inspiration. Greatest cover image ever. Teapot with handle & spout on same side. | I normally don't share what I read on Shabbat, preferring to share my favorite books at the end of the year. However, I will say that the chapter in The Design of Everyday Things on human error is perfect reading for Shabbat Shuva and repentance. | If you design bad paths for your users no matter how obscure, they will find them. Keep the happy path simple and avoid complexity. This and many other great #design wisdoms in The Design of Everyday Things. Great book from @jnd1er. | Q: @tobi #asktobi what are your favorite books/resources on product @claudiahumbert A:”
Source →“@TosinOyinloye_ Better to read wide bro. ”The Design of Everyday Things” is one book I still love as it takes one deeper into the field and breaks many assumptions. | @evankstone Yes!! His book changed my entire perception of the world around me when I started my career in UX! | Don Norman's book was a huge Nudge inspiration. Greatest cover image ever. Teapot with handle & spout on same side. | I normally don't share what I read on Shabbat, preferring to share my favorite books at the end of the year. However, I will say that the chapter in The Design of Everyday Things on human error is perfect reading for Shabbat Shuva and repentance. | If you design bad paths for your users no matter how obscure, they will find them. Keep the happy path simple and avoid complexity. This and many other great #design wisdoms in The Design of Everyday Things. Great book from @jnd1er. | Q: @tobi #asktobi what are your favorite books/resources on product @claudiahumbert A:”
Source →“@TosinOyinloye_ Better to read wide bro. ”The Design of Everyday Things” is one book I still love as it takes one deeper into the field and breaks many assumptions. | @evankstone Yes!! His book changed my entire perception of the world around me when I started my career in UX! | Don Norman's book was a huge Nudge inspiration. Greatest cover image ever. Teapot with handle & spout on same side. | I normally don't share what I read on Shabbat, preferring to share my favorite books at the end of the year. However, I will say that the chapter in The Design of Everyday Things on human error is perfect reading for Shabbat Shuva and repentance. | If you design bad paths for your users no matter how obscure, they will find them. Keep the happy path simple and avoid complexity. This and many other great #design wisdoms in The Design of Everyday Things. Great book from @jnd1er. | Q: @tobi #asktobi what are your favorite books/resources on product @claudiahumbert A:”
Source →“@TosinOyinloye_ Better to read wide bro. ”The Design of Everyday Things” is one book I still love as it takes one deeper into the field and breaks many assumptions. | @evankstone Yes!! His book changed my entire perception of the world around me when I started my career in UX! | Don Norman's book was a huge Nudge inspiration. Greatest cover image ever. Teapot with handle & spout on same side. | I normally don't share what I read on Shabbat, preferring to share my favorite books at the end of the year. However, I will say that the chapter in The Design of Everyday Things on human error is perfect reading for Shabbat Shuva and repentance. | If you design bad paths for your users no matter how obscure, they will find them. Keep the happy path simple and avoid complexity. This and many other great #design wisdoms in The Design of Everyday Things. Great book from @jnd1er. | Q: @tobi #asktobi what are your favorite books/resources on product @claudiahumbert A:”
Source →“@TosinOyinloye_ Better to read wide bro. ”The Design of Everyday Things” is one book I still love as it takes one deeper into the field and breaks many assumptions. | @evankstone Yes!! His book changed my entire perception of the world around me when I started my career in UX! | Don Norman's book was a huge Nudge inspiration. Greatest cover image ever. Teapot with handle & spout on same side. | I normally don't share what I read on Shabbat, preferring to share my favorite books at the end of the year. However, I will say that the chapter in The Design of Everyday Things on human error is perfect reading for Shabbat Shuva and repentance. | If you design bad paths for your users no matter how obscure, they will find them. Keep the happy path simple and avoid complexity. This and many other great #design wisdoms in The Design of Everyday Things. Great book from @jnd1er. | Q: @tobi #asktobi what are your favorite books/resources on product @claudiahumbert A:”
Source →Recommended by 12 notable people, including Ran Segall and Nir Eyal
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Reading Profile
Should I read this?
Don Norman turns everyday frustrations into a detective story about flawed design. You’ll start seeing doors, switches, and software through new eyes, armed with concepts like affordances and feedback. The examples are vivid and often entertaining, but the academic prose and repetitive structures can make the book feel more like a lecture than a manual. It can sharpen your design intuition, but it won’t teach you to design anything yourself—annoying if you expected a how-to guide.
Read this if...
- •A product manager at a tech startup who keeps seeing users stumble but can’t articulate why—this book hands you the vocabulary to diagnose and argue for better design.
- •An industrial design student in the first year, wanting a grounding in human-centered thinking before diving into tools and studio work.
- •A software engineer shifting into UX who wants the conceptual backbone of interaction design, not just a portfolio of trendy UI patterns.
Skip this if...
- •You’ll likely put it down when Norman unpacks cognitive theory for yet another door handle—if you wanted quick design hacks, this feels academic and slow.
- •Annoying if you bristle at lengthy, pre-digital anecdotes and prefer concise, actionable design rules; the book meanders through analogies before making its point.
- •Skip it if you want hands-on exercises or templates—this is plain text with no practical activities, and that lack can leave you restless by the middle chapters.
One of the world's great designers shares his vision of "the fundamental principles of great and meaningful design", that's "even more relevant today than it was when first published" (Tim Brown, CEO, IDEO). Even the smartest among us can feel inept as we fail to figure out which light switch or oven burner to turn on, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door. The fault, argues this ingenious -- even liberating -- book, lies not in ourselves, but in product design that ignores the needs of users and the principles of cognitive psychology. The problems range from ambiguous and hidden controls to arbitrary relationships between controls and functions, coupled with a lack of feedback or other…
Before You Buy
Reading Specifications
Difficulty:hard
Length:415 pages (Medium)
Audience Fit
- A product manager at a tech startup who keeps seeing users stumble but can’t articulate why—this book hands you the vocabulary to diagnose and argue for better design.
- An industrial design student in the first year, wanting a grounding in human-centered thinking before diving into tools and studio work.
- A software engineer shifting into UX who wants the conceptual backbone of interaction design, not just a portfolio of trendy UI patterns.
- You’ll likely put it down when Norman unpacks cognitive theory for yet another door handle—if you wanted quick design hacks, this feels academic and slow.
- Annoying if you bristle at lengthy, pre-digital anecdotes and prefer concise, actionable design rules; the book meanders through analogies before making its point.
- Skip it if you want hands-on exercises or templates—this is plain text with no practical activities, and that lack can leave you restless by the middle chapters.
Check formats, pricing, and availability options for Kindle, physical print, or audiobooks directly.
View available editions on AmazonKey themes
Why recommended
Recommended by 22 sources and appears in Product Design, Manufacturing, and Design Thinking.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
Nir Eyal
“@TosinOyinloye_ Better to read wide bro. ”The Design of Everyday Things” is one book I still love as it takes one deeper into the field and breaks many assumptions. | @evankstone Yes!! His book changed my entire perception of the world around me when I started my career in UX! | Don Norman's book was a huge Nudge inspiration. Greatest cover image ever. Teapot with handle & spout on same side. | I normally don't share what I read on Shabbat, preferring to share my favorite books at the end of the year. However, I will say that the chapter in The Design of Everyday Things on human error is perfect reading for Shabbat Shuva and repentance. | If you design bad paths for your users no matter how obscure, they will find them. Keep the happy path simple and avoid complexity. This and many other great #design wisdoms in The Design of Everyday Things. Great book from @jnd1er. | Q: @tobi #asktobi what are your favorite books/resources on product @claudiahumbert A:”
View sources (6) ▾80%
Appears In
Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. Recommended by 25 sources.
“You’re strapped into a mental road trip where every roadside repair becomes a treatise on Quality. Pirsig’s narrator, haunted by a former self, meditates on technology and madness while struggling to connect with his son. The useful part: it rewires how you think about craft, reason, and what makes something ‘good.’ The frustration: the ride keeps stopping for lectures that some will find illuminating and others self-indulgent; the thin characters and dated psychology may leave you stranded.”
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Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.