The Design of Everyday Things
Donald A. Norman · first published 1988 · ISBN 9780465050659
Norman dissects why some doorknobs, light switches, and alarm clocks confuse you while others seem to work by instinct. He shows that what feels like user error is usually design error. Good design makes the right action obvious. Bad design forces the user to guess what the engineer intended and blames them when they guess wrong.
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The Best Books for Engineering Students
Many engineering failures come from optimizing for the spec sheet rather than for human reality. Norman teaches you to see the gap between what people actually do and what you assume they'll do. It's a way of thinking that prevents entire categories of mistakes.