Join the HCSF Reading Group to discuss The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition by Don Norman
In-Person Meeting
Sunday, April 12, 2026
3:30-5:00 pm Pacific
In-Person, Inverness
NOTE THE TIME AND LOCATION CHANGE from our usual meetings
Address and driving directions emailed to registrants the week of the meeting
If you'd like to participate in a carpool, contact Kirsten Miclau at readinggoup@harvardclubsf.org
HCSF Members: Free, but RSVP required
Non-Members: $10 Not a member? Register here for membership!
Please sign in with your HarvardKey otherwise a duplicate record will be created and you will not be able to log-in.
No HarvardKey? Please retrieve your HarvardKey here. If you need help, email ithelp@harvard.edu or call 617-495-7777
HCSF Guidelines for attending in-person events
If you are showing COVID-19 or Flu symptoms, please stay home. This is critical to the health and safety of our staff and communities.
Registration ends Friday, April 10
The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition
Don Norman 368 pages 2013
Even the smartest among us can feel inept as we fail to figure out which light switch or oven burner to turn on, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door. The fault, argues this ingenious — even liberating — book, lies not in ourselves, but in product design that ignores the needs of users and the principles of cognitive psychology. The problems range from ambiguous and hidden controls to arbitrary relationships between controls and functions, coupled with a lack of feedback or other assistance and unreasonable demands on memorization. Norman demonstrates that good, usable design is possible. The rules are simple: make things visible, exploit natural relationships that couple function and control, and make intelligent use of constraints. The goal: guide the user effortlessly to the right action on the right control at the right time. (Publisher)
"I read this book in its first edition many years ago. Although many industrial and software designers swear by this book, it's just as relevant for lay people who often don't pay attention to the details of the products they use every day. This book's lessons have stuck with me; every time I'm confused by unfamiliar appliances, struggle with a door handle, or stumble on a stair, I take a second look, through Norman's lens, to figure out why." (HCSF Reading Group regular)
Questions about our meetings or how we choose our books?
Contact Kirsten Miclau
HCSF Reading Group Organizer
readinggroup@harvardclubsf.org