4 ms·

the design of everyday thing I've seen that recommended many times but it's a terrible book, IMHO. (I don't remember the specifics why, but vaguely remember th

by gcp 10y ago

the design of everyday thing I've seen that recommended many times but it's a terrible book, IMHO. (I don't remember the specifics why, but vaguely remember the author waffles around without any real points).

henrik_w 10y ago
I agree. I was fairly interesting, but not as good as it is made out to be.
LoSboccacc 10y ago
I think there's some value in showing how design needs to be defined by usability and not the other way around. I agree the point could have been made in way less words, but there's something extremely useful in learning to thinking about user first and not many books that talk about that. Like, the kitchen top example, which is best summarized with two pictures: http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/20/20f59954-2807-475a-a2c5-d7e4d1097931_1000.jpg http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/20/20f59... http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/ba/ba8456f9-afac-4c29-ae9b-bbbe6a0f5005_1000.jpg http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/ba/ba845... I find topology influencing brain patterns being a fascinating topic. Also: http://i.imgur.com/ACe2b51.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ACe2b51.jpg technician clearly didn't read the book XD
kej 10y ago
I think it suffers a little from the Seinfeld effect, where it was completely original at the time but created enough of a following that it seems derivative when you go back to it.
segmondy 10y ago
Then it's not for you. I've read it, I loved it, it gave me lots of ideas. Something that you must understand is that sometimes, a book is not good or bad, it's just not for you. Sometimes, you must read into it, get inspired and develop your own useful ideas. It's kinda like when I go to conferences, I could sit in an hour long talk, and yet it will be only one minute of it that was insightful to me, and that one minute might be worth the entire talk. First time I went to a conference, I was so bored and disappointed, I expected every word, every slide to be mind blowing. When I changed my way of thinking, I got more out of it. I apply the same philosophy to books, I could read a book and perhaps it's a chapter or a few pages that will make it worth it all. For the design of everyday things, every chapter mattered to me.

by gcp 10y ago

henrik_w 10y ago

I agree. I was fairly interesting, but not as good as it is made out to be.

LoSboccacc 10y ago

I think there's some value in showing how design needs to be defined by usability and not the other way around. I agree the point could have been made in way less words, but there's something extremely useful in learning to thinking about user first and not many books that talk about that. Like, the kitchen top example, which is best summarized with two pictures: http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/20/20f59954-2807-475a-a2c5-d7e4d1097931_1000.jpg http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/20/20f59... http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/ba/ba8456f9-afac-4c29-ae9b-bbbe6a0f5005_1000.jpg http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/ba/ba845... I find topology influencing brain patterns being a fascinating topic. Also: http://i.imgur.com/ACe2b51.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ACe2b51.jpg technician clearly didn't read the book XD

kej 10y ago

I think it suffers a little from the Seinfeld effect, where it was completely original at the time but created enough of a following that it seems derivative when you go back to it.

segmondy 10y ago

Then it's not for you. I've read it, I loved it, it gave me lots of ideas. Something that you must understand is that sometimes, a book is not good or bad, it's just not for you. Sometimes, you must read into it, get inspired and develop your own useful ideas. It's kinda like when I go to conferences, I could sit in an hour long talk, and yet it will be only one minute of it that was insightful to me, and that one minute might be worth the entire talk. First time I went to a conference, I was so bored and disappointed, I expected every word, every slide to be mind blowing. When I changed my way of thinking, I got more out of it. I apply the same philosophy to books, I could read a book and perhaps it's a chapter or a few pages that will make it worth it all. For the design of everyday things, every chapter mattered to me.