Hmm. I better try to summarize better than I managed before.
Simon's work is important. I DO recommend it.
He did think he was writing about design, but his understanding of design
was focussed upon the problem-solving component, not on the way people
would interact with the finished product, and certainly not with the
emotional and aesthetic components. I believe he was unaware of the
activities of people who are in the design profession (e.g., readers of
this list). To Simon, design was applied problem solving --
information-processing problem solving. The environment was mainly relevant
in such stories as the parables of the ant and of the watchmaker. The
mental experience of the people interacting with the designs were not
considered essential.
Note: I, too, was completely ignorant of the work by design practitioners
25 years ago when I wrote my first two books on what has become
"interaction" and "human-centered design." Simon's ignorance was matched
by my own ignorance. I changed my views. alas, Simon died, so we don't
know how much he would have changed.
I think he was often wrong. That doesn't detract from the value of reading
his thoughts. As for being wrong, hell, I'm often wrong. The issue is not
whether or not one is wrong but whether one learns from the experience.
Don
(At multiple design activities in Shanghai.)
--
Don Norman
Nielsen Norman Group, IDEO Fellow
[log in to unmask] www.jnd.org http://www.core77.com/blog/columns/
Book: "Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded<http://amzn.to/ZOMyys>"
(DOET2). Pub date: November 2013
Course: Udacity On-Line course based on
DOET2<https://www.udacity.com/course/design101> (free).
Nov 2013.
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