Readings in human factors

Here are some recommended books on the social aspects and other human factors in engineering.

• The design of everyday things by Donald A. Norman (Doubleday Currency, 1988, ISBN 0-385-26774-6. Plain talk and clear thinking on the design of controls, handles, signs, and other commonplaces. Published in hardback as The psychology of everday things.
• Further up the organization by Robert Townsend. A good survival manual for organizations, and in remarkable agreement with my favorite book on organizational pathology, Have fun at work.
• Programming as if people mattered by Nathaniel Borenstein. I'm not aware of a definitive work on the design of human interfaces, but this book is a step in that direction. Packed with great bad examples. One important conclusion he draws: the mechanics of help systems are much less important than the quality of the writing and the organization of the material.
• Bad Human Factors Design Examples. A great page with lots of photos and commendable common-sense analysis.
• Don't miss the single best book I've read on sociology and engineering: Have fun at work.

There are human factors angles in a lot of my software design reading list, too.

Last updated: 1999/05/07 23:15:41
URL: http://www.nmt.edu/~shipman/org/human.html