EMOTIONAL DESIGN BY DONALD A. NORMAN

This is my second of thought about reading aesthetic book.I was to clarify the issues contained in the book by Donald A. Norman is Professor of Computer Science at Northwestern University, a former “Apple Fellow,” and a partner in the Nielsen Norman Group Consulting Firm, which consults with corporations on design. He is the author of a number of books on design, including Emotional Design and the best-selling The Design of Everyday Things. He lives in Northbrook, Illinois and Palo Alto, California. I really enjoyed reading about aesthetic design from Norman's point of view, since in The Design of Everyday Things he completely ignored and even made it seem irrelevant compared to usability. I was curious about this change, so I try to understand first  through the prologue and found that Norman states he has actually changed his mind and now understands how important the aesthetic part is.

New research on emotion and cognition has shown that attractive things really do work better, as Donald Norman enough demonstrates in this fascinating book, which has garnered acclaim everywhere from Scientific American to The New Yorker.Emotional Design articulates the profound influence of the feelings that objects has to be raised, from our willingness to spend thousands of dollars on Gucci bags and Rolex watches, to the impact of emotion on the everyday objects of tomorrow.Norman draws on a wealth of examples and the latest scientific insights to present a bold exploration of the objects in our everyday world. Emotional Design will appeal not only to designers and manufacturers but also to managers, psychologists, and general readers who love to think about


Chapter 1


In the chapter 1,Donald Norman only describe the poor design and how this affects the users.I’m have been  impressed by the phrases “positive emotions are as importants as negative ones….”.
 In this opening chapter, Norman exposes the idea that attractive things work better, like the title says. He claims when a device is aesthetically more attractive than another, but both share the same functionality, users will prefer to use and will rate higher the one that is more attractive. He also discusses the three level of processing: visceral, behavioral, and reflective.

Computer science professor Norman also advises design firms. He brings his background in academics and business to bear on the emotional valence surrounding objects of daily use, be they kitchen utensils, automobiles, or a football coach's headset. Norman's analysis of people's emotional reactions to material objects is a delightful process, be given with surprises for readers who have rarely paused to consider why they like or hate their belongings. He breaks down emotional reactions into three parts, labeled "visceral," "behavioral," and "reflective," asserting that "a successful design has to excel at all levels." Norman's examples of items ranging from bottles to hand tools fulfill this dictum, although he feels that designers do not often take emotion into account when formulating what an object should look like. With household robots on the horizon, Norman implores designers to redeem their mistakes in designing personal computers. His readers will take away insights galore about why shoppers say, "I want that."

chapter 2


In this chapter 2,Donald A norman explain on the role of emotion in design..Donald A. Norman wanders further off base in this chapter than he has at any point previous. I could make a snide remark about how his opinion of how negative emotion are important as positive emotions.The phrases ‘Because the power of emotions fades with times’ ,it showed that a negative emotions cant effect the positive emotions.A good design can intense the emotions to be attracted to how beautiful or aesthetic the design can be to the eyes of users explain each of the level include the visceral,behavioural and reflective.

Donald A. Norman says that the class of devices currently designated video game systems has a massive, untapped market for similar devices that tell and teach you how to cook or fix your car. He's half right, but still manages to be completely wrong. A video game system is not a device that needs to be broadened into other fields. Rather, it is a computer over-optimized for gaming. What he's actually advocating is reverse engineering the computer from the PlayStation, an approach that hardly makes sense.

chapter 3

Donald A Norman key point in this chapter is all the level he approach from the beginning this Emotional Design chapter.That is Visceral, Behavioral and Reflective design. In my opinion, Visceral design very focus in the aesthetic and the appearance of an item also it can catch the consumer’s eye with the pleasing style.Behavioral design is all about the use and performance. If the item does not do what it is supposed to do,than it is not only more than one item only. Reflective design assume that the message and meaning of the product can sends  to its users.

This chapter both has similar and difference with what Donald A Norman mention early in chapter 1.To me, something that showed as Visceral design is the MacBook. On the outside, it is very smooth and silver by its cover, simple with glowing apple logo on the top. The screen very plain and clear, and even the keyboard is very attractive. Although I do not have a MacBook myself, I know many people do,wish and simply choose it because it incredibelly aesthetic appearance.An example to describe Behavioral design is a nice kitchen knife.It is not to figure it out and easy to use.A knife doet what it is has to do as easy as ABC.Finally,an example of Reflective design is the Nike an Adidas product.i do not have nice Nike product,but I have a pair of Adidas boots for my sportsman life.They are certainly a successful design because although there are many other types of boots in the market that coss high far from we can patch the price,both product are still popular among the teenage boy and also the adult that the design is not limited to sports product but stylish design corporate design.

In conclusion,there are many many ways that how we can appreciate the nice and aesthetic way about the product or an item.We assume what needs to be thought through isnot just the initial excitement of using a product.You need to think of the product lifecycle and how someone will be suprised using your product everyday.