I think the book sets out to explain 2 things, and does that really well: 1. Why do everyday things end up being designed the way they are 2. What makes one th

I think the book sets out to explain 2 things, and does that really well: 1. Why do everyday things end up being designed the way they are 2. What makes one thing designed well and another not? Normann definitely goes out of his way to say that some things are poorly designed and other are not. One of my favourite bits is on stove tops. He argues why basically every stovetops knob-layout is wrong and then goes on to explain why we end up with a "wrong" layout: It is because stovetops are designed to be sold in the showroom, more than they are designed to be used in the kitchen. It looks nice to have the knobs in a row (the book is from before touch controls) and that's why they are in a row and not in a square configuration. I don't think the takeaway here is "it's a compromise, and it is what it is", I think the point Norman wants to make is more along the lines of "This is why we can't have nice things".