Number of words – 104

Great designers produce pleasurable experiences. Experience: note the word. Engineers tend not to like it; it is too subjective. But when I ask them about their favorite automobile or test equipment, they will smile delightedly as they discuss the fit and finish, the sensation of power during acceleration, their ease of control while shifting or steering, or the wonderful feel of the knobs and switches on the instrument. Those are experiences. Experience is critical, for it determines how fondly people remember their interactions. Was the overall experience positive, or was it frustrating and confusing?

Excerpted from ‘The Design of Everyday Things’ by Don Norman