Editorial Review

Paper or plastic? Neither, say William McDonough and Michael Braungart. Why settle for the least harmful alternative when we could have something that is better--say, Read more

Reviews (59)

everyone should read this book
We need change to the core, specifically on how we make, use and dispose of our "THINGS"... this is not a HOW TO book, so do not expect hands on solutions to problems you want to solve. It's more a wider view of just how much damage we are causing, and it's just mind blowing how much we can actually change by thinking different.
All is not lost!
This book is just the ticket for the average environmental pessimist.A refreshing and optimistic look at the future.It's simple, it makes sense, and it has the udeniable ring of truth.

The people criticizing this book have "misguided" all over them
There were a lot of complaints that the book wasn't specific enough, didn't give every detail to their examples, or didn't provide any examples at all. Newsflash: it was not the authors' goal to redesign our entire civilization. Their goal was to point out that it will eventually need to be done, should be done, and hopefully, with the examples they did provide, can be done. If you are disappointed a specific problem in our society wasn't solved, why don't you do as the book directed, take a few steps back, and come up with your own "effective" solution.
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Subjects:  1. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    2. Environmental Science    3. Environmental aspects    4. Industrial Design - General    5. Industrial management    6. Life Sciences - Ecology - Recycling    7. Recycling (Waste, etc.)    8. Science    9. Science/Mathematics    10. Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Management - General    4. Production & Operations Management    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Business & Economics / Production & Operations Management    7. Production & quality control management    8. Production engineering   

Reviews (10)

Clearly Better Than Stage-Gate
Ulrich has created an understandable companion text for product development. What is refreshing about this text is that it guides the developer through the elements of product development that are essential to reducing the concept of the product to practice. It is a great instructional guide.

Good reference text
This is a good reference manual for understanding the various techniques that are available for the fuzzy front end of product design. It would be a good text for project managers in product development.
Great product development handbook!
This book provides a great hands-on approach to product development.Unlike other product development books that dwell too much on the philosophical aspects of product development, this book gives you practical advice on how to define meaningful product specifications to meet your customer needs and develop successful products. The book provides a very nice concept development process that I've found very useful.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Engineering - Industrial    4. Industrial Design - Product    5. Industrial engineering    6. Industrial management    7. Management    8. Management - General    9. Marketing - General    10. New Product Development    11. New products    12. Product Design    13. Production management    14. Technology & Industrial Arts    15. Business & Economics / Marketing / General    16. Sales & marketing   

Subjects:  1. Engineering - Industrial    2. Engineering - Mechanical    3. Manufacturing    4. Manufacturing (General)    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Technology    7. Technology & Industrial Arts    8. Production engineering    9. Technology / Manufacturing   

Reviews (1)

Simplicity complicated
The goal of the book is extremely worthwhile: to promote simplicity.It tries to do so in a small book, about 100 pages in small sized pages.Unfortunately it fails, it does not use it own lessons and presents a complicated description of "Simplicity".In order to simplify, it (ab)uses acronyms that do not elicit the thoughts that are intended. For instance, take SHE (Simplify, Hide, Embody).Using the word SHE is hard to turn your mind to "Simplify, Hide, Embody".Then there is BRAIN (Basics, Repeat, Avoid, Inspire, Never) and SLIP (Sort, Label, Integrate, Prioritize). Simple? To present the ideas, Maeda uses a random collection of recollections, of anecdotes, of circumstantial evidence, organized around ten laws, to illustrate the points it wants to make.As you read,you can find another anecdote from your own life, another experience that can contradict his conclusion.Not all is negative, there are some gems that make the reading worthwhile.For instance, law 10, or "the one": "Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful".Imagine if presentations in meetings, conversations or written reports were to keep this law, how more productive our lives would be. This is my simplified review!
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Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Design - Product    4. General    5. Graphic Arts - General    6. Industrial Design - Product    7. Systems engineering    8. Art / Design / Product    9. Industrial / Commercial Art & Design    10. Technical design   

Reviews (11)

How innovation changed an industry and the world...
This book not only offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of shipping but also a fascinating look at how disruptive innovation can be. You get a front row seat to changes wrought by the mighty shipping container. In this very well researched book the author provides wonderful glimpses into the labour aspects, international trade aspects, finanace, technical aspects, and actual ship design & contruction. The book is destined to become a classic in detailing how innovation can radically change an industry and the world.

Boxing in goods unleashes globalization: The world is not flat
In "On the waterfront," perhaps the saddest point of the film is where Fr. Barry eulogizes K. O. Duggan, killed off by the mob. But Marc Levinson has located a larger villain, the real force that killed off so many longshoremen's careers: the standardized shipping container. While a highly trained crane operator working today's docks earns $120,000 a year, their numbers are few and few of them are former longshoremen or sons of longshoremen. And cargo handling costs have dropped over 90%. Yet this is only the start. The shipping container reducedspoilage, theft, insurance costs, delays, and the entire cost of going global. Not for anyone who doesn't work in logistics
If you work in logistics, buy this book.It is well worth trudging through the tedious parts to get to the gems.With some severe editing, pictures and diagrams it could be a best seller.But the presentation is more like that of a sterile textbook than popular writing.As someone who worked in logistics I found it interesting.But it is certainly not a book that anyone will read again and again. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1913-2001    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Containerization    6. Economic History    7. History    8. Industrial Design - Packaging    9. McLean, Malcolm Purcell,    10. American History    11. Business & Economics / Economic History    12. Economics    13. Maritime / nautical trades    14. Transport industries   

Reviews (3)

Good introduction to Human Factors Engineering
Wickens et al. really fill the gap between system engineering and cognitive psychology. I have found quite a few of books of this kind. Extraordinary!
Wickens is a true pioneer in the field of human factors who fills the gap between (system) engineering and cognitive psychology with great diligence and competence. This book, "An Introduction to Human Factors Engineering", is another excellent reference tool made for engineers to integrate psychologic research results in their creations; I read it in combination with Wickens' "Engineering Psychology and Human Performance", which concentrates rather on the psychological perspective of human factors than on practical design advices. Both books have considerable overlappings, and are similar to each other, even in the structure of the chapters; nevertheless, I highly recommend them both. I have not (yet) found better literature for this field.

Valuable introduction and future resource to Human Factors,
Informative presentation of basic Human Factors principles from a psychology perspective.Touches on Cognition, Perception, and the Design Process.The last of which is extremely valuable for any UI design.Handy reference tool. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ergonomics/Human Engineering    2. General    3. Human engineering    4. Industrial Design - General    5. Psychology    6. Occupational & industrial psychology    7. Occupational / industrial health & safety    8. Production engineering    9. Psychology & Psychiatry / General    10. Technical design   

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Commercial - General    4. Design - General    5. Individual Architectural Firms    6. Architecture / General    7. Product design    8. Technical design   

Reviews (5)

Interesting...
This book arrived in good condition from the sender and before time.The book inself is very interesting and will serve its purpose.

HUMAN FACTORS
I AM A BIG FAN OF THE AUTHOR, AND HAVE USED HIS WORKS IN THE PRACTICE OF MY WORK MANY TIMES, THE BOOK, IS GOOD WITH MANY PRACTICAL EXAMPLES, BUT SADLY DOES NOT SEEM TO TELL ME ANYMORE THAN I ALREADY KNEW. ....I WAS HOPING FOR MORE.
great reference - cd is pretty worthless
this book is a great reference for those who deal in any way with the human form. i, for example, am a 3d character animator andthis book is perfect for nailing correct human proportions and visualizing range of motion. however, the accompanying cd is basically an advertisement for ErgoForms, the autocad version of the drawings in the book. only the 1% man drawing (the smallest average male figure)is included on the cd, which is pretty useless for what i need. if the book weren't so expensive i'd give it a four star rating. i thought i was getting more on the cd to warrant the price. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Design & Drafting    3. Design, Industrial    4. General    5. Human engineering    6. Industrial Design - General    7. Interior Design - General    8. Architecture / Interior Design    9. Ergonomics    10. Industrial / Commercial Art & Design    11. Mechanical Engineering & Materials   

Reviews (2)

Great book for learning GD&T
This book is an excellent substitute or supplement to a course in geometric dimensioning & tolerancing.GD&T was not taught at the college I attended and this book helped me quickly get up to speed.Within days of using this I was creating proper drawings that accuratly communicated my company's requirements for cast parts.However, the book is probably better suited as a learning tool than it is a reference as it often took some time to look up and find the answer for specific questions.

Excellent book for understanding Geometrical Tolerances
This book explains clearly the concept of Geometrical Dimensioning & Tolerances and the advantages of applied it to mechanical engineering drawings. It helps you to understand the difference between GeometricalDimensioning vs Coordinate Dimensioning. A must for Engineering DrawingStandards. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drafting & Mechanical Drawing    2. Drafting Technology    3. Education    4. Engineering - Industrial    5. Technology    6. Technology & Industrial Arts    7. Engineering graphics & technical drawing    8. Technical design    9. Technology / Technical & Manufacturing Industries & Trades   

Reviews (2)

Excellent primer on Robust Engineering... how to book
This book is quite readable, considering the topic, and does an excellent job of explaining the high level strategies of Dr. Taguchi's approach to optimization and experimentation.It also covers tactical issues like how to determine your ideal function and noise strategies. How to learn Robust Design
I like this book because it gives a very good introduction into the concepts of noise- and control-factors. It treats the concept of "energy transformation" good, which is important to find the appropriate Ideal Function for your product.Read more

Subjects:  1. Design, Industrial    2. Development - Business Development    3. Engineering - Mechanical    4. New products    5. Product Design    6. Quality Control    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Taguchi methods (Quality contr    9. Taguchi methods (Quality control)    10. Technology    11. Technology & Industrial Arts    12. WinRobust    13. Computer aided design (CAD)    14. Production engineering    15. Technology / Engineering / Mechanical   

Reviews (7)

Awesome Airplane Design Reference
One of the best airplane design books out there.I rank it with Torenbeek and Roskam.I refer to it during my design studies as well as my students.

Great book
I'm a second-year aerospace engineering student and after searching for books that would tell me exactly why I'm learning what I am, this one was recommended to me. The author explains how and why designers do what they do, and even has a handwritten design example in the back. I bought the RDS software with this book, and am still figuring it out. If you do get the RDS, don't expect a Windows interface. Think DOS. At least it's not a system hog.

Necessary Starting Point to Understanding Aircraft Design
This is an excellent, and for the time being the authoratative, book about aircraft design. For anyone who wants to become an aerospace engineer reading a book like this should put any type of work they'll do in the proper context.
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Subjects:  1. Aeronautics & Astronautics    2. Aircraft Design And Construction    3. Airplanes    4. Aviation - General    5. Design and construction    6. Technology & Industrial Arts    7. Transportation    8. Aerospace & aviation technology    9. Technical design   

Reviews (5)

Highly recommended ..
... to anyone w. even the slightest interest in materials & product design.

Great if you really want to know about materials.
It's quite heavy to read... but it covers so much information that it's worth of it.You won't find fancy products shown on the inside for any kind of material, but you will understand everything about them.
Wow!
Amazing new perspective on matials and design!A must for any inspired designer/Product Manager. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Engineering - General    2. Industrial Design    3. Industrial Design - General    4. Industrial Design - Product    5. Management - General    6. Material Science    7. Materials Management    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Technology    10. Technology & Industrial Arts    11. Materials science    12. Product design    13. Technical design    14. Technology / Industrial Design / General   

Reviews (7)

mixed bag
we used this book for undergrad se classes i taught.
Too much information crammed in one single book
I agree with Keith here on the irritant QUOTE "constant referencing of graphs and figures, as well as notations from previous chapters, it really inhibits my learing when I have to keep flipping back and forth to follow a train of thought. There are also a few chunks of the book that are very, very hard to follow the logical train of thought and require meticulious attention to the detail, and often require rereading. UNQUOTE.
High-level view
Very much the 30,000 foot view of systems engineering. I picked this book up because I saw it referred to all over the place, and assumed that it was reasonably definitive. Sadly, it is not. What the book does do is give the reader a reasonably good high-level overview of systems engineering in general, and of some of the techniques involved in estimating the "ilities" of a given system design. However, the level of detail on any one subject area is very light, and the bias of the book is very much toward DoD-style systems engineering. A good book for systems engineering managers. System designers should also seek out Wymore's "Model-Based Systems Engineering" for a thorough understanding of requirements and design. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Engineering - Industrial    2. Industrial Technology    3. Programming - Systems Analysis & Design    4. Science/Mathematics    5. System analysis    6. Systems Analysis (Computer Science)    7. Systems Engineering    8. Technology    9. Technology & Industrial Arts    10. Technical design    11. Technology / Engineering / Industrial   

Reviews (2)

Not A Must Own, But A Good Book
Today, product performance requirements and environmental concerns force designers and productassemblers to become more aware and involved in electronic packaging and interconnect decisions than ever before. Product performance requirements spiral from the effects of increasing operatingspeed, decreasing package size, lowering cost, and reducing time to market.These spiraling requirements decrease the emphasis on traditional componentpackaging, raise new component packaging and handling issues, and placemore responsibility for packaging on the assembler, all the whileincreasing component and product complexity. Environmental concerns drivenew requirements for cleaning, interconnection, and reclaiming andconserving resources; and political responses to issues, previously beyondthe scope of influence on engineers and scientists. A Professional writes a professional book
I know Mr. Harper is well-known in electronic packaging field. His presentations have been read and studied in China. I think this book must be a best-seller in electronic packaging world. I wish I could buy one ifit is possible in China. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Electronic packaging    2. Engineering - Electrical & Electronic    3. Handbooks, manuals, etc    4. Industrial Design - Packaging    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Technology    7. Technology & Industrial Arts    8. Electronics & Communications Engineering    9. Technology / Electronics / Semiconductors   

Reviews (4)

great book for packaging
This is a great book for patterns and I found just the right design for my project

Make a package for anything
This incredible reference shows hundred of patterns for boxes, cartons, tubes, displays, etc. I don't mean "four sides and a bottom", though you have plenty of those. I mean things with internal dividers, things the hold together by themselves, decorative, utilitarian, and the entire range.
Must have for Packaging Engineers
This book contains lots of creative, (and basic), packaging patterns which are scaled so mock-ups are easily made.When I am starting a package design project I page through the book to get ideas.The carton section is especially helpful. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Industrial Design - Packaging    2. Technology & Industrial Arts    3. Packaging    4. Engineering - Industrial    5. Product design    6. Technical design    7. Technology / Industrial Design / Packaging    8. Design    9. Design - General    10. Graphic Arts - General    11. Paperboard    12. Art   

Subjects:  1. CAD-CAM - General    2. Computers - General Information    3. Engineering - Civil    4. Engineering - General    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Technology    7. Technology & Industrial Arts    8. Computer aided manufacture (CAM)    9. Technical design    10. Technology / Engineering / General   

Reviews (12)

Worth the buy!
I have not found such a comprehensive book for design of six sigma. I started using this book for advanced experimental design and taguchi methods, but ended understanding the complete roadmap for design of six sigma. The systems approach allows an enthusiast reader to start anywhere, without having to spend time refering back to earlier chapters. The relatively newer trends as TRIZ and axiomatic design have also been nicely dealt with. A book serves all your needs
This is an outstanding DFSS book for production development. It contains integrated information and some of which you could hardly find anywhere else, thus with one book in hand, you have all the tools to get to your destination. This is also a easy to read book providing the reader with a solid understanding- Concepts are clearly defined, real world examples/ case studies are fully described and the chapters are well organized. It can serve as a textbook for students/beginners and also can serve as a handbook for experienced engineers. Full of information and errors
This is a book with a lot of information. Each chapter can be used as a starting point for a specific six sigma technique. However, this is the worst edited book I have ever read. You can hardly find one page without errors/typos. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business/Economics    2. Experimental design    3. Industrial Design - Product    4. Manufacturing    5. Production Engineering    6. Quality Control    7. Statistical methods    8. Technology    9. Technology & Industrial Arts    10. Total Quality Management    11. Business & Economics / Total Quality Management    12. Research & development management    13. Systems analysis & design   

Editorial Review

Anyone who designs anything to be used by humans--from physical objects to computer programs to conceptual tools--must read this book, and it isan equally tremendous read for anyone who has to use anything created by another human. It could forever change how you experience and interact with your physical surroundings, open your eyes to the perversity of bad design andthe desirability of good design, and raise your expectations about how things Read more

Reviews (99)

Do not continue with life until reading!
This update to "The Psychology of everyday things" is quite possibly my favorite book.Let me start with the negatives, as I can think of so few: I will admit that at times Donald Norman draws out his points to the extent that one wonders if he needed to meet a word count for a particular section.And some of the concepts are outdated (notably the magical 5-7 range; psychologists have put that one out to pasture).
Ever wonder...
If you've ever wondered how things come into being and concepts behind them? Then this book is for you. For me, it aided me by gaining a better understanding into what sort of concepts I should be working through in forming my presentations for work.

Read this book to feel good about yourself
Everyone's got one's share of distressing moments, failing to use some variations of widely utilized hardware like doors, windows, entertainment systems, faucets etc. I know I've got quite a lot of them. I used to think it was because I am slightly dyslexic.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Design, Industrial    5. General    6. Human engineering    7. Industrial Design - General    8. Psychological aspects    9. Ergonomics    10. Product design    11. Psychology    12. Design   

Reviews (1)

freindly use
THIS BOOK IS VERY FRIENDLY USE AND CONCISE. RECOMMENDED AS QUICK REFERENCE. I WISH THAT THE AUTHORE PUT MORE DETAL (DEREVATIONS). I AM VERY HAPPY WITH IT ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Building, Iron and steel    2. Engineering - Civil    3. Load factor design    4. Science/Mathematics    5. Steel, Structural    6. Structural Steel Design    7. Technology    8. Technology & Industrial Arts    9. Technical design    10. Technology / Engineering / Civil