The Atomic Human

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The Psychology of Everyday Things

Author: Donald A. Norman

Year: 1988

Summary

Machine Summary

Norman examines how the design of everyday objects shapes human behavior and cognition. He introduces key concepts like affordances in design, showing how good design should make actions obvious and map naturally to human capabilities. Later editions were retitled “The Design of Everyday Things.”

This work connects to themes in The Atomic Human about human-machine interfaces and the importance of understanding how humans actually interact with technology rather than how designers think they should. Norman’s insights about the gap between designer intent and user experience parallel discussions about the limitations of purely logical approaches to artificial intelligence.