The Invisible Computer:
Why the computer industry doesn't work the way you think it should.

Donald A. Norman



Thomas Edison was a great inventor, but a crappy businessman. Consider
the phonograph. Edison was first (he invented it), he had the best
technology, and he did a brilliant, logical analysis of the business.
As a result, he built a technology-centered phonograph that failed to
take into account his customer's needs. In the end, his several
companies proved irrelevant and bankrupt.

In the early part of a technology's life cycle, the customer segment is
comprised of enthusiasts who nurture the fledgling early products and
help them gain power and acceptability. Technology rules the day,
guided by feature-driven marketing. Everything changes when products
mature. The customers change, and they want different things from the
product. Convenience and user experience dominate over technological
superiority. This is a difficult transition for a technology-driven
industry. This is where the personal computer industry stands today.
The customers want change, yet the industry falters, either unwilling
or unable to alter its ways. Edison didn't understand this.

If the information technology is to serve the average consumer, the
technology companies need to become market driven, task-driven, driven
by the real activities of users. Alas, this is a change so drastic that
many companies may not be able to make the transition. The very skills
that made them so successful in the early stages of the technology are
just the opposite of what is needed in the consumer phases.


This talk addresses the changes we might expect to see in the
information technology world. And the process by which they might come
about.


Biography

Donald A. Norman is an expert on the human-side of technology. Having served
his time in academia and industry, he has now teamed with a colleague to
form the Nielsen Norman Group, an executive level consulting company charged
with bringing human-centered design to industry ("If you want human-centered
design, first you must reorganize the company," says Norman.)

Norman has been an executive at Hewlett-Packard and Vice President and Apple
fellow at Apple Computer, in charge of Apple's Advanced Technology Group. He
is
also Professor Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego. "The
real impact of technology," says Norman, "lies in the combination of
communication and computation that affect social interaction, access to
knowledge, just-in-time learning, and enjoyment. It is ever more important
to develop technology that takes into account the needs and capabilities of
people." In 1995, Norman received an honorary degree from the University of
Padua (Italy).

Norman is the author of thirteen books, with translations into twelve
languages including "The Design of Everyday Things" and "Things That Make Us
Smart."  His newest book, "Information Appliances" was just published by MIT
Press.


Don Norman  don@jnd.org http://www.jnd.org
Nielsen Norman Group   http://www.NNGroup.com