By the author of “The Design of Everyday Things,” this is the first book to make the connection between emotions and how people relate to ordinary objects—from juicers to Jaguars.

Did you ever wonder why cheap wine tastes better in fancy glasses? Why sales of Macintosh computers soared when Apple introduced the colorful iMac? New research on emotion and cognition has shown that attractive things really do work better, as Donald Norman amply demonstrates in this fascinating book, which has garnered acclaim everywhere from “Scientific American” to “The New Yorker.”“Emotional Design” articulates the profound influence of the feelings that objects evoke, from our willingness to spend thousands of dollars on Gucci bags and Rolex watches, to the impact of emotion on the everyday objects of tomorrow.Norman draws on a wealth of examples and the latest scientific insights to present a bold exploration of the objects in our everyday world. “Emotional Design” will appeal not only to designers and manufacturers but also to managers, psychologists, and general readers who love to think about their stuff.

Review
“The book pops with fresh paradigms, applying scientific rigor to our romance with the inanimate. You'll never see housewares the same way again.”

Donald A. Norman is a cognitive scientist and cofounder of the Nielsen Norman Group, an executive consulting firm that helps companies produce human-centred products and services. His many books include The Design of Everyday Things, Things That Make Us Smart and The Invisible Computer. He lives in Illinois, USA.