Design Everyday Things

Design of Everyday Things Framework

Foundational design principles for creating products that are intuitive, discoverable, and understandable. The "bible of UX" — applicable to physical products, software, and any human-designed system.

Core Principle

Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible. When something works well, we take it for granted. When it fails, we blame ourselves — but the fault is almost always in the design.

The foundation: Design must bridge the gap between what people want to do and what the product allows them to do. The best designs are discoverable (users figure out what to do) and understandable (users figure out what happened).

Scoring

Goal: 10/10. When reviewing or creating designs, rate 0-10 based on discoverability, understandability, and error prevention. A 10/10 means users can figure out what to do without instructions, understand what happened, and recover from errors easily. Always provide current score and improvements to reach 10/10.

The Two Gulfs

Every interaction with a product requires bridging two gulfs:

USER                                    PRODUCT
  │                                        │
  ├──── Gulf of Execution ────────────────→│
  │     "How do I do what I want?"         │
  │                                        │
  │←──── Gulf of Evaluation ──────────────┤
  │     "What happened? Did it work?"      │

Gulf of Execution

The gap between what users want to do and what the product lets them do.

Questions users ask:

• What can I do here?
• How do I do it?
• Which control do I use?
• How do I operate this control?

Bridging strategies:

• Clear signifiers showing what's possible
• Natural mappings between controls and outcomes
• Constraints preventing wrong actions
• Familiar conceptual models

Gulf of Evaluation

The gap between what the product did and what users understand happened.

Questions users ask:

• What happened?
• Did it work?
• Is this what I wanted?
• What state is the system in now?

Bridging strategies:

• Immediate, visible feedback
• Clear system state indicators
• Meaningful error messages
• Progress indicators

Design goal: Make both gulfs as narrow as possible. The ideal design requires zero bridging — action and understanding are immediate.

See: references/two-gulfs.md for gulf analysis exercises.

Seven Fundamental Design Principles

1. Discoverability

Definition: Can users figure out what actions are possible and how to perform them?

Five components of discoverability:

• Affordances
• Signifiers
• Constraints
• Mappings
• Feedback

(Each detailed below)

Test: Put a new user in front of your product. Can they figure out what to do within 10 seconds? If not, discoverability is broken.

Anti-pattern: "The user manual explains it." If users need a manual, the design failed.

2. Affordances

Definition: The relationship between the properties of an object and the capabilities of the agent (user) that determine how the object could be used.

Key insight: Affordances exist whether or not they are perceived. A door affords pushing whether or not you know to push it. What matters is perceived affordance.

Types:

Digital applications:

Common failures:

• Flat design removes perceived affordances (is it a button or a label?)
• Touch targets that are too small (fat finger problem)
• No visual distinction between interactive and decorative elements

See: references/affordances.md for affordance design patterns.

3. Signifiers

Definition: Signals that communicate where the action should take place.

Key insight: Affordances determine what's possible. Signifiers communicate where and how.

Affordances define what CAN be done; signifiers show HOW to do it.

Types:

Digital signifiers:

Design rule: When in doubt, add a signifier. It's better to over-communicate than to leave users guessing.

See: references/signifiers.md for signifier patterns and examples.

4. Mappings

Definition: The relationship between controls and their effects.

Natural mapping: When the spatial layout of controls matches the layout of the thing being controlled.

Examples:

Digital mapping principles:

• Controls should be near what they affect
• Layout of controls should mirror layout of content
• Direction of action should match expectation (scroll down = content moves up)
• Grouping related controls together

Mapping techniques:

See: references/mappings.md for mapping analysis exercises.

5. Constraints

Definition: Limiting the possible actions to prevent errors.

Four types of constraints:

Digital constraints:

The power of constraints: Every constraint you add is one less error the user can make.

Design rule: Make it impossible to do the wrong thing, rather than punishing users for doing the wrong thing.

See: references/constraints.md for constraint design patterns.

6. Feedback

Definition: Communicating the results of an action back to the user.

Feedback must be:

• Immediate: Within 0.1 seconds for direct manipulation
• Informative: Tells user what happened and current state
• Appropriate: Not too much (annoying) or too little (confusing)
• Non-intrusive: Doesn't block the user's workflow

Types of feedback:

Digital feedback patterns:

Common failures:

• No feedback at all (did my click register?)
• Delayed feedback (makes system feel broken)
• Unclear feedback (something happened but what?)
• Too much feedback (every action triggers alert)

Response time guidelines:

• 0.1s: Feels instantaneous (direct manipulation)
• 1.0s: Noticeable delay (show cursor change)
• 10s: Attention wanders (show progress bar)

• 10s: User leaves (show percentage, allow background)

See: references/feedback.md for feedback design patterns.

7. Conceptual Models

Definition: The user's mental model of how a product works.

Three models:

Goal: User's model should match the design model. The system image is the bridge.

When models match:

• Users predict outcomes correctly
• Users recover from errors easily
• Users feel confident and in control

When models mismatch:

• Users are confused and frustrated
• Users blame themselves
• Users give up or call support

Example: Thermostat

• Design model: Set temperature, system maintains it
• Common user model: Higher setting = faster heating (wrong!)
• Result: Users crank thermostat to 90°F hoping for faster warmth

Building correct conceptual models:

• Use familiar metaphors (desktop, folder, trash)
• Make system state visible
• Provide clear feedback
• Use consistent behavior (same action = same result)
• Progressive disclosure (simple model first, details available)

See: references/conceptual-models.md for model design frameworks.

Human Error

Norman's key insight: There is no such thing as "human error." There is only bad design.

When someone makes an error, look for the design flaw, not the person's flaw.

Types of Errors

Slips: Correct intention, wrong action

Mistakes: Wrong intention, executed correctly

Design for Error

Error prevention:

• Constraints that make errors impossible
• Undo/redo for all actions
• Confirmation for destructive actions
• Sensible defaults
• Forgiving input (accept variations)

Error recovery:

• Clear error messages (what happened + how to fix)
• Don't erase user's work on error
• Allow partial saves
• Easy reset to known good state

Error message checklist:

• Says what went wrong (in human language)
• Says how to fix it
• Doesn't blame the user
• Preserves user's work
• Provides alternative path

See: references/human-error.md for error prevention patterns.

The Seven Stages of Action

Norman's model for how humans interact with products:

1. GOAL      → "I want to adjust the temperature"
2. PLAN      → "I'll use the thermostat"
3. SPECIFY   → "I'll press the up arrow"
4. PERFORM   → (presses button)
   ─── Gulf of Execution ───
5. PERCEIVE  → (sees display change)
6. INTERPRET → "The number went up"
7. COMPARE   → "Is this what I wanted?"
   ─── Gulf of Evaluation ───

Design implications:

• Stages 1-3 (execution): Support with clear signifiers, mappings, constraints
• Stage 4 (action): Support with good affordances
• Stages 5-7 (evaluation): Support with clear feedback, system state

Use as evaluation tool: Walk through each stage for any interaction. Where does the user get stuck?

See: references/seven-stages.md for stage-by-stage analysis.

Human-Centered Design (HCD) Process

Norman's design process:

Observation → Idea Generation → Prototyping → Testing → (iterate)

1. Observation

• Watch real users in real contexts
• Don't ask what they want (they don't know)
• Look for workarounds, frustrations, adaptations
• Focus on activities, not individual tasks

2. Idea Generation

• Generate many ideas (diverge before converge)
• Don't criticize during ideation
• Build on others' ideas
• Defer judgment

3. Prototyping

• Quick, cheap, disposable
• Test concepts, not polish
• Paper prototypes for early ideas
• Interactive prototypes for validation

4. Testing

• Test with real users (not designers)
• 5 users reveal 85% of problems
• Observe behavior, not just opinions
• Iterate based on findings

Key principle: The design process is iterative. You'll go through multiple cycles, each time refining the design based on what you learn.

Common Mistakes

Quick Diagnostic

Audit any design:

Reference Files

• two-gulfs.md: Gulf analysis exercises, bridging strategies
• affordances.md: Affordance types, design patterns
• signifiers.md: Signifier patterns, examples, best practices
• mappings.md: Natural mapping analysis, spatial layout
• constraints.md: Constraint types, digital implementations
• feedback.md: Feedback patterns, timing, modality
• conceptual-models.md: Model design, metaphors, mental models
• human-error.md: Error types, prevention, recovery
• seven-stages.md: Stage analysis, evaluation tool
• case-studies.md: Door handles, thermostats, digital products

Further Reading

This skill is based on Don Norman's foundational design principles. For the complete framework:

• "The Design of Everyday Things" by Don Norman (Revised & Expanded Edition, 2013)
• "Emotional Design" by Don Norman (design and emotion)

About the Author

Don Norman, PhD is co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group and director of The Design Lab at UC San Diego. He coined the term "user experience" while at Apple in the 1990s. The Design of Everyday Things (originally published in 1988 as "The Psychology of Everyday Things") is considered the most influential design book ever written and is required reading in virtually every design program worldwide. Norman has served as VP of Advanced Technology at Apple and has been a professor at Northwestern, UC San Diego, and KAIST (Korea).

Overview

Apply foundational design principles: affordances, signifiers, constraints, feedback, and conceptual models.

Prerequisites

• Access to the design environment or API
• Required CLI tools installed and authenticated
• Familiarity with design concepts and terminology

Instructions

1. Assess the current state of the design configuration
2. Identify the specific requirements and constraints
3. Apply the recommended patterns from this skill
4. Validate the changes against expected behavior
5. Document the configuration for team reference

Output

• Configuration files or code changes applied to the project
• Validation report confirming correct implementation
• Summary of changes made and their rationale

See design implementation details for output format specifications.

Error Handling

Examples

Basic usage: Apply design everyday things to a standard project setup with default configuration options.

Advanced scenario: Customize design everyday things for production environments with multiple constraints and team-specific requirements.

Resources

• Official design documentation
• Community best practices and patterns
• Related skills in this plugin pack