Add to Chrome
Add to Edge
Add to Firefox
Add to Opera
Add to Brave
Add to SafariUniversal Principles of Design, by William Lidwell vs The Design of Everyday Things, by Donald A. Norman
When comparing Universal Principles of Design, by William Lidwell vs The Design of Everyday Things, by Donald A. Norman, the Slant community recommends The Design of Everyday Things, by Donald A. Norman for most people. In the question“What are the best books on web design?” The Design of Everyday Things, by Donald A. Norman is ranked 3rd while Universal Principles of Design, by William Lidwell is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose The Design of Everyday Things, by Donald A. Norman is:
Whatever that's being designed, for whatever purpose, it always has the same goal of being used by someone. This book is focused on that interaction and on why users make mistakes. These principles still apply directly to web design, when design leads users to make mistakes, it will ultimately drive users away.
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Backs up well known theories
Many of the theories presented in the book will already be familiar to designers. However this book backs up the theories with data, additional research and examples that encourage the designer to consider the theories in different ways.
Pro Variety of theories
There are 125 different theories introduced in the book that cover a very wide range of relevant disciplines (such as psychology and biology).
Pro Focused on the user
Whatever that's being designed, for whatever purpose, it always has the same goal of being used by someone. This book is focused on that interaction and on why users make mistakes. These principles still apply directly to web design, when design leads users to make mistakes, it will ultimately drive users away.
Pro Cross discipline principles
This book isn't focused on recent trends or properties specific to a certain field, and thus applies to all design. It provides a broad view and allows focusing on the fundamental goals of the user experience, rather than being limited in scope.
Cons
Con Theories are not described in depth
Each theory has two pages; one page with visual examples, and another page with a written description. These act more as an introduction to the various theories as they don't go into much depth.
Con Not specifically for web design
This book challenges the reader to think about the design of all objects, and their user-friendliness/usability. It is not specifically targeted towards web designers, but will help web designers think in a way that benefits users.
