Don Norman
The fusion between Electrical Engineering and Design
Don Norman graduated in Electrical Engineering in 1957 from MIT, but his curiosity led him to study design, or more precisely what differentiated a successful design from a design that did not please the public.
Because of Don’s curiosity, he ended up creating a new science, UX design.
Don Norman is a cognitive scientist, professor emeritus at the University of California San Diego, and one of the founders of the Nielsen Norman Group, an executive consulting firm that helps companies produce human-centered products and services. He is considered the father of the term “UX” and one of the pioneers of user-centered design. Norman is the author of several books, including “The Design of Everyday Things”, which is a classic in the field of user-centered design. He is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Additionally, he is an IDEO Fellow and one of the founders, president, and editor of the journal of the Cognitive Science Society.
The Nielsen Norman Group is an executive consulting firm that helps companies produce human-centered products and services. It was founded in 1998 by Jakob Nielsen and Don Norman, two pioneers of user-centered design. The company specializes in research, training and consultancy in user experience (UX) and user interface (UI). They have been analyzing the interface of Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system, the user experience of mobile devices, and Apple’s intranet portal.
The Nielsen Norman Group specializes in user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) 1 research, training and consulting. They help companies produce human-centered products and services. Some of the services offered by the Nielsen Norman Group include:
Training: The Nielsen Norman Group offers UX and UI training to help companies create user-centric products and services. They offer online courses, workshops, and personalized training to meet each company’s specific needs.
Consulting: The company offers UX and UI consultancy to help companies improve the user experience of their products and services. They work with companies to identify usability problems and provide solutions to improve the user experience.
Research: The Nielsen Norman Group conducts UX and UI research to help companies better understand users’ needs and wants. They use a variety of research techniques including user interviews, usability testing and data analysis to provide valuable insights for businesses.
UI Design is the area of design that focuses on creating and improving the interfaces with which users interact in digital products, such as applications, websites, embedded systems, smart devices and software. It is responsible for designing the visual appearance, arrangement of elements and user interaction with the interface. Its purpose is to facilitate usability and user experience, ensuring that the interface is intuitive, efficient and pleasant to use. In addition to aesthetics, UI Design also involves building meaningful interactions between the user and the interface. This includes defining how visual elements respond to user actions, such as animations, transitions, and visual feedback, to make the experience more fluid and understandable. UI Design works together with other areas of design, such as UX Design (User Experience Design), which focuses on the user’s overall experience with the product, including information architecture, usability and user research. UI Design complements UX Design by translating usability guidelines and principles into visual and interactive elements.
I’m currently reading the book Emotional Design where Don Norman explains the three levels of product design. Visceral, behavioral and reflective design. Which are respectively linked to the physical, objective and subjective aspects of a product.
Ultimately, Donald is what we call a born engineer, his curiosity and inventiveness go beyond the barriers of his academic training. In the current era we not only need specialists, but people who bring together lines of work that previously seemed to have nothing to do with each other. These people are curious and generalists and find common points where no one saw connections.
