Book · 2013
The Design of Everyday Things
by Don Norman
A cognitive scientist argues that when you can't open a door or use a stove, the door and stove are broken — not you.
What does Reddit think of The Design of Everyday Things?
Forty-nine mentions across 8 subreddits over seven years, and the sentiment lands broadly positive but nowhere near unanimous. r/programming leads with 10 mentions and houses the most substantive takes: one commenter with 183 upvotes says the book reframed NTSB incidents from user error to design failure, and another (↑168) credits Norman for teaching them to write better git explanations by naming affordances before diving into mechanics. r/ExperiencedDevs clusters it with The Pragmatic Programmer and Peopleware as things every software developer should probably read. r/webdev is more divided — one ↑68 comment threatens bodily harm to anyone who name-drops it, while another ↑57 response places it downstream of Don't Make Me Think as foundational UX reading. r/learnprogramming contributes 9 mentions; one ↑257 list puts it alongside computing classics without further comment. The spike years were 2021 and 2022 (11 and 10 mentions). Usage has cooled since.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Affordances and signifiers
- · User error as design failure
- · Feedback loops and system communication
- · Human-centered design principles
- · UX foundations for software engineers
Common praise
- + Changes how you assign blame when software or hardware behaves badly — toward the designer, not the user.
- + The NTSB framing sticks: r/programming commenters still cite it when aviation incident reports surface.
- + r/ExperiencedDevs recommends it alongside Peopleware as context that Pure Code books skip entirely.
- + The vocabulary (affordances, signifiers, feedback) gives engineers a shared language for UX arguments that 'I don't like it' doesn't provide.
Common criticism
- − r/webdev has a contingent that finds the name-dropping exhausting — the ↑68 comment is not subtle about this.
- − Neutral sentiment in r/gamedev and r/webdev suggests practitioners find it too abstract to change daily workflow.
- − Mention volume peaked in 2021-2022 and has cooled to single digits annually since, which is not the trajectory of a living reference.
- − Don't Make Me Think gets cited alongside it in r/webdev as the more actionable entry point for web practitioners.
Who it's for
If you've ever watched a user struggle with something you built and instinctively blamed the user, this book exists to correct that reflex. Senior developers on r/ExperiencedDevs treat it as background reading before touching any interface-facing system. Game developers cite it but don't evangelize it — the neutral r/gamedev sentiment suggests it lands differently when your 'door' is a fictional world. Skip the revised edition debates; the core Norman argument hasn't changed. If you already live in Don't Make Me Think and want the theoretical scaffolding underneath it, this is where that scaffolding lives.
Mentions over time
Which Reddit comments matter for The Design of Everyday Things?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“This makes me think of The Design of Everyday Things, which really changed my perspective on thorough user experience/acceptance testing. Some large number of NTSB incidents are attributed to user error, but a lot of them are really bad design where the system did not adequately communicate the issu…
“I always read these explanations of git (or even some other tech or concepts) and always think that all these authors can only improve their explanations if they had read Donald E Norman's *The Design of Everyday Things*. Let's use a car example: Next to no drivers actually know how their car engin…
“If someone says the design of everyday things I will track them down and shove that book up their bums
“I think about affordances and The Design of Everyday Things EVERY time I see a f****** set of doors with pull handles where you have to push them lol.
“here are a few of the classics that every sw developer should probably read. Let me know if you cannot find them by googling and I can provide the full links: - The Pragmatic Programmer - The Design of Everyday Things - Peopleware - A Philosophy of Software Design - Structure and Interpretation of…
“For more details about this topic, you should read the book The Design of Everyday Things. Feedback is discussed there and some more.
“You'll find a ton of good information by broadening your horizons to non-game topics. Some I like: "The Design of Everyday Things", Don Norman "Pantone's Guide to Communicating with Color", Leatrice Eisemann "The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation", Ollie Johnston
“For other examples, check out a book called "The Design of Everyday Things." It talks about design decisions on real live objects (not software). Notable quote: "Something as simple as a door shouldn't need instructions." (Referring to PULL and PUSH signs.) Look at your stove. The burners are in …
“DOET had a huge impact in the way I think about UI/UX. I recommend that book to everyone I meet. The realization that most often than not the problem isn't that "the user doesn't understand the interface", rather that "the interface doesn't understand the user" was enlightening. Fair warning tho…
“I recommend "Design of Everyday Things" by Don Norman. It has little to do with software engineering directly, but it discusses how to make things easier for humans to use which is the goal of many aspects of software engineering.
“The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman. This is wonderful for Human Computer Interactions, but also for much more. It changed the way I looked at the world; at how things were created with humans in mind. I still, probably 15 years later, use verbiage from this book when discussing UI/UX/Produc…
“A short and enjoyable book called the design of everyday things. This will help him avoid certain problems that crop up when making any product used by people.
“As a Frontend devoler who's work involves ux design heavily I reccomend 'The Design of Everyday Things'. It's an easy read, and despite being written a way back gives solid principles on how to approach all kinds of UX.
“I don't have any courses for you since I never did any online courses. I can absolutely recommend the book 'The Design of Everyday Things' though. It teaches a lot about user experience in general and also will give you some vocabulary. User Experience courses will not help your sites look better t…
“*The Design of Everyday Things* by Don Norman. It's not *technically* a programming book, it's actually about the design choices of physical objects and how those choices either enable the purpose of that object or hinder it. It's relevant because everything that you will ever program is either di…
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Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with The Design of Everyday Things — counted from the comments, not curated.
The Design of Everyday Things — frequently asked
Is The Design of Everyday Things actually useful for software engineers, or is it too focused on physical objects?+
Mostly yes. r/programming commenters with 183 and 168 upvotes apply Norman's frameworks directly to software testing and technical writing. The physical door examples are the delivery mechanism, not the point. r/ExperiencedDevs groups it with The Pragmatic Programmer as standard-issue reading, which implies the abstraction transfers.
What does Reddit think of The Design of Everyday Things in 2026?+
Broadly positive but cooling. Peak engagement was 2021-2022 at 11 and 10 mentions. It dropped to 1 mention in 2023 and hasn't recovered to previous levels. r/webdev has a visible backlash contingent — one ↑68 comment is memorably hostile — while r/ExperiencedDevs still treats it as essential context.
Should I read The Design of Everyday Things or Don't Make Me Think first?+
Depends on your goal. A r/webdev commenter with 57 upvotes positions Don't Make Me Think as the practical genesis of web UX thinking, with Norman providing the theoretical layer. If you're building web products now, start with Krug. If you want to understand why Krug's advice works, Norman explains the mechanism.
Is The Design of Everyday Things worth reading if I'm a game developer?+
Unclear. r/gamedev has 9 mentions but neutral sentiment — the data doesn't surface a strong positive or negative case from that community. It appears on reading lists without generating the specific application stories that r/programming produces. Treat it as plausible background reading rather than a confirmed game-dev classic.