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Recent Essays (The complete set is in "Essays.") (Updated August 12, 2002)
Surprisingly popular: Toilet paper algorithms -- twice revised as a result of feedback (it hit a peak of 20,000 readers a day, thanks to Slashdot.org.)
An editor of IEEE Computer saw The Perils of Home Theater on this website, and so now it has been published in the June 2002 issue of Computer magazine.)
Emotion & Design: Attractive things work better.
June, 2002. — The scientific results are now in: emotions change the way we think: attractive products really do work better. The opening salvo in my attack on dull, dreary products and, at least at them moment, is targeted to be the opening section of my new book "Emotion & Design." More ...
Norman, D. A., Ortony, A., & Russell, D. M. Affect and machine design: Lessons for the development of autonomous machines. (January 2003). Originally presented at the IBM Autonomic Computing Summit at T J Watson Research Center, May 14-15, 2002
Affect and cognition can be thought of as two information processing systems, with affect being primarily concerned with evaluation (good-bad, safe-dangerous) and cognition primarily concerned with interpretation and understanding. Any system, natural or artificial, that must exist in a complex, dynamic world needs to pay attention to survival as well as cognition. We can apply lessons from biology to the design of artificial systems. More ...
Toilet Paper Algorithms: I didn't know you had to be a computer scientist to use toilet paper.
Modified, June, 2002. — When we remodeled our house, we put in dual-paper toilet roll holders so that we would always have a new roll when the old one ran out. Oops, they both ran out together. We discovered the algorithms of toilet paper use. More...
DVD Menu Design: The Failures of Web Design Recreated Once Again
Dec. 2001 — It's time to take DVD design as seriously as we do web design. The field needs some discipline: some attention to User Experience, concern about accessibility for those with less than perfect sight and hearing, and some standardization of control and display formats. More...
The Perils of Home Theater
Aug. 2001 — Anyone who thinks that the computer industry has made things difficult for customers, wait until you look at home theater. There is a major opportunity here to enlarge the market considerably by setting, agreeing upon, and implementing industry-wide standards for interconnection, aimed at making the result easier to install and use, far more comprehensible, and therefore more attractive to the average family. More...
In Defense of Cheating
Aug. 2001. — No, I am not in favor of deception, trickery, fraud or swindle. What I wish to change are the curriculum and examination practices of our school systems that insist on unaided work, arbitrary learning of irrelevant and uninteresting facts. More...
Applying the Behavioral, Cognitive, and Social Sciences to Products
Sep. 2001 — People trained in the Behavioral, Cognitive and Social Sciences seldom play a critical role in the development of new products. Yeah, they do user testing and sometimes take part in the design, but seldom take part in specifying the product in the first place. Moreover, when economic times get tight, they are among the first to be let go. More..
More essays >
This Website
Design philosophy is (partially) explained in Gratuitous graphics. Feedback is always welcome: send to jnd @ jnd.org* Designed jointly with and encoded by Dayna Bateman, daynab@oblioarts.com*
*email links are not active in them in an attempt to reduce spam.
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