The Design of Future Things

By: Donald A. Norman

Narrated by: Bill Quinn

Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

In The Design of Future Things, best-selling author Donald A. Norman presents a revealing examination of smart technology, from smooth-talking GPS units to cantankerous refrigerators. Exploring the links between design and human psychology, he offers a consumer-oriented theory of natural human-machine interaction that can be put into practice by the engineers and industrial designers of tomorrows thinking machines. A fascinating look at the perils and promise of the intelligent objects of the future, The Design of Future Things is a must-read for anyone interested in the dawn of a new era in technology.

©2009 Donald Norman (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Gets you thinking about the world of things arouny

An excellent follow up to the book 'The Design of Everyday Things'; this book looks to what the future may -- and should -- bring.

Just a bit outdated

Although interesting, not nearly as well written or interesting as the revised edition of “The Design of Every Day Things. This may be interesting to someone with zero knowledge of automation and technology, but listening to this book in 2019 as someone interested in tech, is a bit boring.

The design of future cars - a view from 2007

If you could sum up The Design of Future Things in three words, what would they be?

Don Norman is one of the foremost minds in the psychology of things, and how we interact with them. Always a pleasure to hear his thoughts, although already a bit dated.

What did you like best about this story?

The book is on one hand a good view of design psychology in a time where machines are becoming more and more smart and automated, and interaction more a question of them communicating with us in the right way (and second guessing us gently rather than forcefully) than us understanding their workings fully.

Any additional comments?

Sadly, a lot of the book is about cars and "smart homes", and it was written before the true advent of cloud computing and the smart phone. It's absolutely worth a listen, even if it's a view from the recent past, which is fascinating in itself.

An engineering/design book made easy for anyone

I really enjoyed listening to this book, it gave me new perspective and helped me develop and direct my academic interests
Inspiring
Funny
Educational
Useful

OK

The message was OK but it was a bit repetitive. I did not like the voice.

The narration will irritate you

I was not overly impressed with the depth of information, however, it doesn't matter because the narration is painfully awful. It is like one long, cheezy advertisement. It is difficult to get beyond the narration, but if you do, you will find the content is shallow. He uses ridiculous fictional stories to assert his point. Be prepared for words like 'oops'.

The Voice is over BAD, but Don Normand is worse

If you like to imagine what the future will be like with talking refrigerators, Rosie the robot, and a car named Hal this book will be fine for you. I found the certainty he predicts with arrogant and spooky enough for me to want to move into a log cabin in the back country of Alaska. The most appalling part is when Mr. Normand actually states that design needs to be made into a science. This man has clearly spent too many years in academia sipping whiskey in his ivory tower.