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Design for a Better World

Meaningful, Sustainable, Humanity Centered

Author Donald A. Norman
Ebook
The MIT Press
On sale Mar 21, 2023 | 376 Pages | 978-0-262-37384-5
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How human behavior brought our world to the brink, and how human behavior can save us.

The world is a mess. Our dire predicament, from collapsing social structures to the climate crisis, has been millennia in the making and can be traced back to the erroneous belief that the earth’s resources are infinite. The key to change, says Don Norman, is human behavior, covered in the book’s three major themes: meaning, sustainability, and humanity-centeredness. Emphasize quality of life, not monetary rewards; restructure how we live to better protect the environment; and focus on all of humanity. Design for a Better World presents an eye-opening diagnosis of where we’ve gone wrong and a clear prescription for making things better.

Norman proposes a new way of thinking, one that recognizes our place in a complex global system where even simple behaviors affect the entire world. He identifies the economic metrics that contribute to the harmful effects of commerce and manufacturing and proposes a recalibration of what we consider important in life. His experience as both a scientist and business executive gives him the perspective to show how to make these changes while maintaining a thriving economy. Let the change begin with this book before it’s too late
TABLE OF CONTENTS...
1 Almost Everything Artificial Has Been Designed 3
2 Our Artificial Way of Life is Unsustainable 11
3 Why History Matters 15
4 Precise--but Artificial--Measurements 27
5 If Technology Got Us into Today's Situation,
Maybe Technology Can Can Get Us Out 39
6 This Book: Meaningful, Sustainable, and Humanity Centered 47
7 The Need for Meaning 57
8 Measurement in the Physical Sciences 63
9 Measuring What is Important to People 67
10 The Gross Domestic Product 79
11 What Measures Are Truly Important to People? 87
12 Human Behavior and Economics 103
13 We Live in the Age of Waste 115
14 How Did the World Get into Today's Quandary 119
15 Sustainability Has Multiple Components and Implications 125
16 Design, Products, Sustainability, and the Circular Economy 131
17 The Practical Difficulties of Implementing Circular Design 139
18 Sustainable, Robust, and Resilient Systems 147
19 People's Understanding of Systems 155
20 Working with Complex Sociotechnical Systems 167
21 It Is Not Too Late 177
22 Moving from Humans to Humanity 181
23 Democratizing Design and Development 187
24 People Designing for Themselves 195
25 DesignX: An Approach to Large, Complex Systems 203
26 Where Incrementalism (Muddling Through) Fails 209
27 Incremental Modular Design 213
28 When Large, Multidisciplinary Projects Are Necessary 217
29 Dealing with Scale 225
30 Design: Necessary but Not Sufficient 231
31 Why Change is Difficult 239
32 People Will Mobilize for a Common Goal 249
33 What Must Change? 251
34 The Dominance of Technology 265
35 The Future of Technology 275
36 What Can Be Done? 285
37 What Can We Do? 291
38 The Major Points of This Book 301
Acknowledgments 311
Notes 315
Bibliography 335
Index 351
Don Norman is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Science and Psychology and founding director of the Design Lab at the University of California, San Diego. Business Week has named Norman one of the world’s most influential designers. He was an Apple Vice President, has been an advisor and board member for numerous companies, and has three honorary degrees. His numerous books have been translated into over 20 languages, including The Design of Everyday Things and Living with Complexity, also from the MIT Press.
Donald A. Norman View titles by Donald A. Norman

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How human behavior brought our world to the brink, and how human behavior can save us.

The world is a mess. Our dire predicament, from collapsing social structures to the climate crisis, has been millennia in the making and can be traced back to the erroneous belief that the earth’s resources are infinite. The key to change, says Don Norman, is human behavior, covered in the book’s three major themes: meaning, sustainability, and humanity-centeredness. Emphasize quality of life, not monetary rewards; restructure how we live to better protect the environment; and focus on all of humanity. Design for a Better World presents an eye-opening diagnosis of where we’ve gone wrong and a clear prescription for making things better.

Norman proposes a new way of thinking, one that recognizes our place in a complex global system where even simple behaviors affect the entire world. He identifies the economic metrics that contribute to the harmful effects of commerce and manufacturing and proposes a recalibration of what we consider important in life. His experience as both a scientist and business executive gives him the perspective to show how to make these changes while maintaining a thriving economy. Let the change begin with this book before it’s too late

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS...
1 Almost Everything Artificial Has Been Designed 3
2 Our Artificial Way of Life is Unsustainable 11
3 Why History Matters 15
4 Precise--but Artificial--Measurements 27
5 If Technology Got Us into Today's Situation,
Maybe Technology Can Can Get Us Out 39
6 This Book: Meaningful, Sustainable, and Humanity Centered 47
7 The Need for Meaning 57
8 Measurement in the Physical Sciences 63
9 Measuring What is Important to People 67
10 The Gross Domestic Product 79
11 What Measures Are Truly Important to People? 87
12 Human Behavior and Economics 103
13 We Live in the Age of Waste 115
14 How Did the World Get into Today's Quandary 119
15 Sustainability Has Multiple Components and Implications 125
16 Design, Products, Sustainability, and the Circular Economy 131
17 The Practical Difficulties of Implementing Circular Design 139
18 Sustainable, Robust, and Resilient Systems 147
19 People's Understanding of Systems 155
20 Working with Complex Sociotechnical Systems 167
21 It Is Not Too Late 177
22 Moving from Humans to Humanity 181
23 Democratizing Design and Development 187
24 People Designing for Themselves 195
25 DesignX: An Approach to Large, Complex Systems 203
26 Where Incrementalism (Muddling Through) Fails 209
27 Incremental Modular Design 213
28 When Large, Multidisciplinary Projects Are Necessary 217
29 Dealing with Scale 225
30 Design: Necessary but Not Sufficient 231
31 Why Change is Difficult 239
32 People Will Mobilize for a Common Goal 249
33 What Must Change? 251
34 The Dominance of Technology 265
35 The Future of Technology 275
36 What Can Be Done? 285
37 What Can We Do? 291
38 The Major Points of This Book 301
Acknowledgments 311
Notes 315
Bibliography 335
Index 351

Author

Don Norman is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Science and Psychology and founding director of the Design Lab at the University of California, San Diego. Business Week has named Norman one of the world’s most influential designers. He was an Apple Vice President, has been an advisor and board member for numerous companies, and has three honorary degrees. His numerous books have been translated into over 20 languages, including The Design of Everyday Things and Living with Complexity, also from the MIT Press.
Donald A. Norman View titles by Donald A. Norman

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