Title: A philosophy rather than specific guidelines
Product review: In general, computer software is abominably designed. But I find most books on user interface design frustrating: they assume that if the designer just follows certain specific rules, the product will automatically be "user-friendly." It doesn't work that way, folks: even if your menus are short and your use of color is discreet, the product may still be utterly unusable.Norman puts the focus right where it belongs: on the USER. What is this person trying to do with the product? What is his/her level of knowledge? How can the design of the product facilitate what the user wants to do, instead of getting in the way? This is a philosophy of design, rather than a set of rules. But the software designer (or any designer) who absorbs this philosophy will turn out far better products than someone who merely buys a book of rules and follows them blindly.
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