Thoughtless Design of Everyday Things

Have you ever noticed how many products appear to be designed by someone who has never used a product of that kind before? Nearly everyone has encountered websites, software apps, cars, appliances, and other products that made them wonder what the designers were thinking. The Thoughtless Design of Everyday Things presents more than 150 examples of products that violate nine fundamental design principles, along with suggestions for improving many of the flawed user interfaces and other design problems. These examples of thoughtless design reveal 70 specific lessons that designers ought to heed as they craft the user experience. This book describes numerous specific practices for enhancing product usability through usage-centered design strategies. You'll also see more than 40 products that exhibit particularly thoughtful designs, the kinds of products that surprise and delight users. Whether you're a designer, a product development manager, or a thoughtful and curious consumer, you'll find The Thoughtless Design of Everyday Things engaging, informative, and insightful.Key Features:--Includes over 150 physical products and software systems that frustrate, annoy, and disappoint consumers, along with ways to improve many of their deficient designs--Features nine design principles that put the user's convenience, success, and satisfaction with using the product at the forefront--Contains 70 lessons that can guide designers to making more thoughtful choices for the customer's benefit--Describes why design is hard and how requirements provide the foundation for effective design--Details the tradeoffs that designers must make among competing product quality characteristics and stakeholder priorities--Covers 10 specific practices that designers can use to create better, more usable products