Book · Book, approx 350 pages

The Design of Everyday Things (Revised and Expanded Edition)

Don Norman Paid Beginner

This is the book behind the whole idea that good design is affordances and feedback, the exact language in our short answer. Norman shows why people fail with confusing products (a door they push when they should pull) and how clear signifiers let anyone succeed without instructions. Read it and you will stop blaming users for being confused and start seeing the confusion as a design bug you can fix.

  • Affordances and signifiers tell people what they can do without a manual
  • Every action needs immediate, visible feedback or users feel lost
  • When someone fails to use your product, the design failed, not the person
Open on nngroup.com ↗

The question it answers

  1. Why does good design actually matter for an early-stage startup?

Read with it

  1. Design tactics written specifically for developers and non-designers who need to ship good-looking UI without a design... refactoringui.com Book · ~250 pages Refactoring UI Adam Wathan & Steve Schoger
  2. The most accessible, practical intro to usability ever written, you can read it in a weekend and immediately fix your product.... sensible.com Book · ~200 pages Don't Make Me Think, Revisited Steve Krug
  3. The single most-cited usability framework in the field, from the definitive UX research authority. A checklist you can hold... Nielsen Norman Group Article · ~15 min read 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design Jakob Nielsen
  4. This is the piece that gives you permission to stop waiting for a big study. Nielsen shows that just five people uncover... Nielsen Norman Group Article · About a 10 minute read Why You Only Need to Test with 5 Users Jakob Nielsen
  5. Video · ~50 min How to Evaluate Startup Ideas Kevin Hale, Y Combinator
  6. The CRED and Freecharge founder on building in India, including his line that Indian founders rush to solutions and underinvest... Lenny's Podcast Podcast · ~90 min Kunal Shah on winning in India, second-order thinking, and the philosophy of startups Kunal Shah (with Lenny Rachitsky)
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