Why we don't really want simplicity, and how we can learn to live with complexity.
If only today's technology were simpler! It's the universal lament, but it's wrong. In this provocative and informative book, Don Norman writes that the complexity of our technology must mirror the complexity and richness of our lives. It's not complexity that's the problem, it's bad design. Bad design complicates things unnecessarily and confuses us. Good design can tame complexity.
Norman gives us a crash course in the virtues of complexity. Designers have to produce things that tame complexity. But we too have to do our part: we have to take the time to learn the structure and practice the skills. This is how we mastered reading and writing, driving a car, and playing sports, and this is how we can master our complex tools. 
Complexity is good. Simplicity is misleading. The good life is complex, rich, and rewarding -- but only if it is understandable, sensible, and meaningful.

Living With Complexity

Science & Math

Norman, Donald A.

Technology

Mit Pr

MIT Press]

Design for a Better World: Meaningful, Sustainable, Humanity Centered

How human behavior brought our world to the brink, and how human behavior can save us. The world is a mess. Our dire predicament, from collapsing social structures to the climate crisis, has been millennia in the making and can be traced back to the erroneous belief that the earth's resources are infinite. The key to change, says Don Norman, is human behavior, covered in the book's three major themes: meaning, sustainability, and humanity-centeredness. Emphasize quality of life, not monetary rewards; restructure how we live to better protect the environment; and focus on all of humanity. Design for a Better World presents an eye-opening diagnosis of where we've gone wrong and a clear prescription for making things better. Norman proposes a new way of thinking, one that recognizes our place in a complex global system where even simple behaviors affect the entire world. He identifies the economic metrics that contribute to the harmful effects of commerce and manufacturing and proposes a recalibration of what we consider important in life. His experience as both a scientist and business executive gives him the perspective to show how to make these changes while maintaining a thriving economy. Let the change begin with this book before it's too late

Business & Money

Economics

The MIT Press

From "Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms" (motto of the 1933 Chicago USA World's Fair)―to "People Propose, Science Studies, Technology Conforms" (Donald Norman's person-centered motto for the twenty-first centuray).
Technologies have a life cycle, says Donald Norman, and companies and their products must change as they pass from youth to maturity. Alas, the computer industry thinks it is still in its rebellious teenage years, exulting in technical complexity. Customers want change. They are ready for products that offer convenience, ease of use, and pleasure. The technology should be invisible, hidden from sight.
In this book, Norman shows why the computer is so difficult to use and why this complexity is fundamental to its nature. The only answer, says Norman, is to start over again, to develop information appliances that fit people's needs and lives. To do this companies must change the way they develop products. They need to start with an understanding of people: user needs first, technology last―the opposite of how things are done now.

The Invisible Computer: Why Good Products Can Fail, the Personal Computer Is So Complex, and Information Appliances Are the Solution

Marketing & Sales

Why we don't really want simplicity, and how we can learn to live with complexity.
If only today's technology were simpler! It's the universal lament, but it's wrong. In this provocative and informative book, Don Norman writes that the complexity of our technology must mirror the complexity and richness of our lives. It's not complexity that's the problem, it's bad design. Bad design complicates things unnecessarily and confuses us. Good design can tame complexity.
Norman gives us a crash course in the virtues of complexity. Designers have to produce things that tame complexity. But we too have to do our part: we have to take the time to learn the structure and practice the skills. This is how we mastered reading and writing, driving a car, and playing sports, and this is how we can master our complex tools. 
Complexity is good. Simplicity is misleading. The good life is complex, rich, and rewarding―but only if it is understandable, sensible, and meaningful.

Living with Complexity (Mit Press)

Evolution

The Design of Future Things

Management & Leadership

Basic Books

Memory and Attention: An Introduction to Human Information Processing (Wiley Medical Publication)

Behavioral Sciences

John Wiley&Sons

Series: Series in PsychologyPaperback: 262 pagesPublisher: Wiley; 2 edition (May 6, 1976)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0471651370ISBN-13: 978-0471651376Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches

Memory and Attention: An Introduction to Human Information Processing

Medical Books

Psychology

wiley

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Books by Norman, Donald A.