Recommendations you can check.
by Donald A. Norman, 2002
Who uses, recommends or left The Design of Everyday Things, in their own words: each a verbatim quote with a link to where it was said.
8 people
Must read not only for designers, but for software developers too, even if you develop backend exclusively. I wish everybody read it really.
Marked “Great book!” on his public bookshelf.
2026-08-16·rakhim.org ↗
Design as cognitive science.
His 'Highly recommended things!' page — a five-star list he introduces as 'my favorite things in all the world', one line of his own commentary per item. The page carries no date; the earliest Internet Archive capture is 2011-05-25 and the page's own markup references an earlier /Links2007/ version.
2024-11-06·worrydream.com ↗
Don Norman's The Design of Everyday Things
His standing 'My Favorite Movies, TV Shows, Books, Podcasts, Music, Video games' page (created 2018-12-15, last modified 2025-06-06); date is the page's own modified date. (the page prints only created: 2018-12-15 and modified: 2025-06-06 for a list updated continuously, so it is undated)
2019-08-20·guzey.com ↗
Design of Everyday Things (beginner)
Answering Dane Albaugh's question: 'What books on design would you recommend to engineers looking to learn some basic fundamentals?'
2026-10-04·x.com ↗
After you read Norman’s book you’ll notice design everywhere, both good and bad. A classic in the field of design.
From “Best Books for Product Managers [2026]”, his standing list, introduced as “the 44 books I’d consider essential to any PM’s bookshelf”. Every book links through amzn.to and a Bookshop.org affiliate id (/a/83161/).
2026-01-07·bringthedonuts.com ↗
A must read for anyone who cares about functional design, from the first User Experience Architect at Apple.
Year-end post listing books that made her think as an engineer, with a short review of each.
2022-12-27·huyenchip.com ↗
This book changed how I look at doors; if you've ever struggled with whether to push or pull, that's bad design. This book is considered the seminal book on the subject of design of physical products and it's well deserved. If you want to change your mind to think more clearly about design, this is the book to help you quickly do it.
His continuously-updated books page (first published 2012-12-16, last updated 2020-10-28), where every book he reads gets a 1-10 rating and a "Why Read it" note. Book links carry his Amazon affiliate tag.
2020-10-28·jasonevanish.com ↗
Designing software is difficult, to be sure, but designing a door is difficult too. The nuances of design extend into every object you touch, whether it's some hot new SQL engine, or a humble shoe.
His long-running "Recommended Reading for Developers" list, last updated September 2025.
2004-02-02·blog.codinghorror.com ↗
Every entry is a verbatim quote and a link to the public post it came from. Nothing is paraphrased. If it is not on record somewhere public, it is not here.
The verdict is what they actually said: loved and liked are explicit; recommended means they told others to get it; uses means they only say they use it; read is a book on their public shelf with no verdict; mixed and disliked are kept too.
A dashed affiliate link, sponsored or their own label means the post disclosed a relationship. It is shown, never hidden.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is for its kind of thing.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is, for its kind of thing. Fully green is recent. It drains a quarter at a time as the post gets older, and is empty once it reads as dated.
What counts as old depends on the thing. A laptop praised four years ago has been replaced twice; a book loved twenty years ago is probably still loved. The shading is gone after about:
Stripes mean the post carries no date and the date shown is an estimate. No date at all, no shading.