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Now You See It, Now You Don't
The Invisible Computer: Why Good Products Can Fail, the Personal Computer Is So Complex, and Information Appliances Are the Solution
By Donald A. Norman. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998. 302 pp. Cloth, $25.
The subtitle of this book is "Why Good Products Can Fail, the Personal Computer Is So Complex, and Information Appliances Are the Solution." Briefly, the answers that Donald Norman provides are as follows:
Good products can fail because good products may be technologically sophisticated, but not what the consumer wants to use or pay for, and not-so-good products may become dominant and hard to dislodge because they make up a nonsubstitutable infrastructure.
The personal computer is so complex because the personal computer is expected to do too many things, and this does not allow it to do any one thing well. In addition, its design is driven by technologists, who do not pay enough attention to what consumers or potential users want.
Information appliances are the solution because information appliances are specialized devices, so they can be designed with specific uses in mind and can be more efficient, convenient, and pleasant to use.
That is the argument of the book in a nutshell, and it is worth examining in detail. This review attempts a critical examination. However, it is important to note that the central message of the book is more general: Norman thinks that technology should be servant and not master. He praises a human-centered approach to product design, and rails against those who put technology first. Before considering his central argument, we provide some background and context.
Background
The author is a psychologist and cognitive scientist who left academia and joined the whirlwind of high-tech business. Best known for his critiques of the poor design of everyday things, the author is now sharing with us his insights accumulated over his recent experiences in the business world. Using Thomas Edison as an example, he explains how good technological innovation and inventiveness do not necessarily make for commercial success. Edison expected that his technology-centered phonograph would be an automatic success but he found that his competitors, arguably with inferior technology, were the ones who succeeded commercially. The parallel Norman draws is with the personal computer,...