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Good design is also an act of communication between the designer and the user, except that all the communication has to come about by the appearance of the device itself. The device must explain itself.

— Donald Norman The Design of Everyday Things (1988)

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Design

More quotes by Donald Norman

If people keep buying poorly designed products, manufacturers and designers will think they are doing the right thing and continue as usual.

The Design of Everyday Things (1988)

When a device as simple as a door has to come with an instruction manual—even a one-word manual—then it is a failure, poorly designed.

The Design of Everyday Things (1988)

Average a left-hander with a right-hander and what do you get?

The Design of Everyday Things (1988)

Academics get paid for being clever, not for being right.

Innocence lost is not easily regained. The designer simply cannot predict the problems people will have, the misinterpretations that will arise, and the errors that will get made.

The Design of Everyday Things (1988)

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If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

William Morris

Good design is a Renaissance attitude that combines technology, cognitive science, human need and beauty to produce something.

Paola Antonelli

I have always believed that fashion was not made only to make women more beautiful, but also to reassure them, give them confidence.

Yves Saint-Laurent

When any great design thou dost intend,
Think of the means, the manner, and the end.

John Denham Of Prudence (1668)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Donald Norman (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.