![]() ![]() So having read some of this work before, I approached the CD with an eye towards the relationship between the content and the user interface-between what it says about design and what it does about design. Norman is definitely a charming and videogenic presence, and the audio and video segments on this CD are fun to hear and watch, but they are not a particularly strong support or augmentation of the content of the text-partly because he is already a writer of great warmth, persuasiveness, and vivid personal voice, and partly because the talks seem shallower and less carefully crafted than the books.Ī more compelling reason for making this CD-ROM might have been to exemplify the design principles the books themselves espouse. He does not elaborate as much as one would wish on how an indexed CD is better than reissuing the books as a set in print format with a unified index. ![]() It boils down to two considerations: the utility of an automated index for all three books, and the cogency and immediacy of being able to see and hear the author himself talk about the work. ![]() Though he mentions his general concern that a CD-ROM on design issues should be well-designed, and that particular features should be helpfully crafted, Norman's discussion of his reasons for making the CD in the first place is surprisingly brief (not to mention hard to locate). Such reflections are largely unexpressed on the CD itself. Given the content of these works, we may assume Norman thought long and hard before putting them on a CD-ROM: What would this technology do that print could not, or do better? What should be the relationship between the CD's form and its content? How might its very design aid the user's grasp of the specific ideas being presented? The Carelman images portray a series of whimsical imaginary devices with nonsensical relationships between their forms and their apparent functions. In Things That Make Us Smart, Norman examines how technologies can amplify (rather than thwart) human cognitive capabilities. Turn Signals are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles is a wider-ranging exploration of the societal relationships between humans and technology. The earliest of the books, The Design of Everything Things, focuses on Norman's ideas about user-centered design, a concern that continues to reverberate through the later books and many of the essays and talks: in Norman's view technological devices (from doors and faucets to electronics) should facilitate their own lucid and successful use. Norman's books and essays on this CD all deal with the relationships between people and technology. Supporting materials on the CD include an Index (or rather, both a traditional book index appearing as text with page references for topical terms, and a Find function that will retrieve instances of any word or phrase), a glossary, and text transcripts of the audio and video segments. Also included are an introduction containing video segments of Norman giving three original short talks, plus video clips of Norman explaining aspects of the CD itself an Essays section containing previously published articles written or co-written by Norman and "The Gallery of Unfindable Things," a selection of images by artist Jacques Carelman from his book Catalogue d'objets introuvables, with audio commentary by Norman. This CD contains the full text of three ofīooks published in print format in the late 1980s to early '90s: The Design of Everyday Things, Turn Signals are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles, and Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine, all embellished sporadically with brief audio or video segments of Norman providing commentary. System requirements: Any color Macintosh (25-MHz 68030 or better recommended) 5,000K of available RAM (at least 8 MB installed) System 7 13-inch (640x480 resolution) color monitor QuickTime-compatible CD-ROM drive (double-speed recommended). Produced and edited by Melanie Goldstein. ![]() Norman: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine. Taught at the University of Michigan by Howard Besser in Winter of 1996.įirst Person: Donald A. Impact of New Information Resources: Multimedia and Networks , Norman The following review was written and posted for the course ![]()
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