Book Review: Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things

As part of what I consider to be a trilogy, I recently re-read Donald Norman’s Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things. It takes a slightly different direction than his (at that time) previous book, The Design of Everyday Things. Written in a style that combines scientific research with personal experience, Norman tells the story of why things should not just be usable, as suggested in The Design of Everyday Things, but he also elaborates on the the more reflective elements of design.

Divided up in two parts, the book deals initially with the theoretical basis of emotional design and then it delves into the practicality. However, I it felt as if the final two chapters (Emotional Machines, The Future of Robots) was more suited for the third book in the installment called The Design of Future things.

However, having said that, I think this book does a good job of discussing the field of emotional design, but more importantly, to me at least it is an indication that even if you can scientifically proof your new way of typing/printing/login is faster or better, your still need to deal with the softer, much less definable emotional side of design.

The three titles are as follows:
The Design of Everyday Things
Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things
The Design of Future Things