Etext HomeGeneral InfoCollectionsServicesFeaturesStandardsContact UsQuestions?VIRGO

Donald A. Norman: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

Note: This CD-ROM works only on a Macintosh computer; it is currently installed on the iMac (the aqua colored Macintosh near the door).

I. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF STRUCTURE AND CONTENT:

Don Norman: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine is a CD-ROM "expanded book," reproducing the texts of several books by Don Norman (The Design of Everyday Things, Turn Signals Are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles, and Things that Make Us Smart), as well as other supplementary materials. These materials include essays from other sources, glossary links and annotations, bibliographies and references, an examination workbook to test your "design IQ," and "The Gallery of Unfindable Things," a selection of pictures from Jacques Carelman's works, which first inspired Norman to undertake a consideration of the problems of interface design. Norman wonders why so many devices designed to make our lives easier actually end up adding to the stresses of life rather than reducing them. He hopes to make the reader/user aware of the problems of design and interested in improving things. Designers, Norman argues, should always be attuned to human needs and interests, rather than concentrating narrowly on technical issues.

II. STARTING UP DONALD A. NORMAN:

Take the Donald A. Norman CD-ROM from its case and place it in the CD carrier of the computer. Double-click on the following icons:

  • The CD ROM PROGRAMS folder icon;
  • The don norman folder icon;
  • The Don Norman icon.

If you do not see these icons, please ask a staff member for assistance.

The CD-ROM should begin with a title page featuring an image of a TV set and a VCR. This screen will be succeeded by a Contents page. From the Contents page you can progress by:

  • Pressing the right and left arrow keys on the keyboard to move one page at a time;
  • Clicking on the bookmark icon at bottom right, which will deposit you at the last page used;
  • Selecting an item directly from the list of Contents.

III. USING DONALD A. NORMAN:

The CD-ROM can be navigated in several ways:

  • By selecting items directly from the Contents page;
  • By using the Tool Palette. To display the palette, press [apple-T], click the mouse in the left margin, or click on the red toolbox icon;
  • By clicking on the audio or video icons to play audio or video segments.

Sometimes windows will open that block the main screen. To close such a window, click on the small white box in the window's top left corner.

Several useful features may be selected from the Books drop-down menu at the top of the screen. (Note: If the drop-down menu bar is not visible, move the pointer to the top of the screen and it will appear.) Selecting Don Norman takes you back to the introductory screen. Annotations makes annotations and glossary links visible; words underlined with gray may be clicked to activate these links. Help ([apple-?]) accesses a menu of help topics.

Summary of Tool Palette Items:

  • Map: clicking on the Map button displays a map of the CD-ROM, which shows your current location and allows you to select a new location from the Table of Contents. To close the map, click Map again.

  • Page: the Page button at the top of the tool panel allows you to "turn" pages either forward or backward by clicking on the arrows either left or right. To get to a distant page immediately, click on the Page button, which will open a window allowing you to type the number of the page you wish to see.

  • Find: the Find button allows you to search the entire CD-ROM for specific words.

  • Mark: the Mark button allows you to bookmark pages. To mark a page, click on Mark. You can return to these pages by clicking and holding the mouse on the Mark button or by clicking on the corresponding arrow keys.

  • Backtrack: the Backtrack button allows you to review your preceding steps and return to any spot you've visited in the CD-ROM by direct link. To review or retrace your steps, click on Backtrack, which will unfold a list of your steps.

Playing Audio and Video Segments

  • Playing a Segment: To begin a clip, click on the film strip icon, the audio icon, the picture of Don, or the picture of the tape recorder. In the Transcripts section, clicking on gray-underlined text will also start a video. Click on the toolbox to pause the segment. Click on the video image to stop the segment.

  • Viewing a transcript: To display the transcript for that clip, hold down the mouse over the picture or video clip while it's playing and select Show Movie Transcript.

  • Advancing or rewinding: To advance or rewind the clip, hold down the mouse over the picture or video clip and select the desired command.

IV. EXITING DONALD A. NORMAN AND REMOVING THE CD-ROM:

Exit the CD-ROM by choosing File from the pull-down menu at the top of the screen. Then choose Quit Hypercard. This will retrace your CD-ROM start-up steps, bringing you to the window containing the Norman icon. To remove the CD-ROM from the computer, drag its desktop icon over the trash can. Please place the CD back in its case and return it to a member of the Etext Center staff.