Book Club: The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman

View all cards mentioned in this episode (luckypaper.co/podcast/297-book-club-the-design…)
In the third book club Episode (luckypaper.co/podcast/tag/book-club), Anthony and Parker talk about Donald Norman’s The Design of Everyday Things (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Design_of_Everyday_T…). Originally published in 1988, the book was an influential criticism of the built world and interfaces establishing many concepts fundamental to user interface and industrial design today. It also introduces a metric ton of jargon per page.
Our book club members talk about how these concepts apply to game and Cube design and their thinking about things more broadly.
Discussed in this episode:
• The Design of Everyday Things (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Design_of_Everyday_T…) by Donald Norman
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification concept and book by Cory Doctorow
• Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change (penguinrandomhouse.com/books/659558/status-and…) by W. David Marx
• Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century (penguinrandomhouse.com/books/769187/blank-spac…) by W. David Marx
• Blood In the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech (hachettebookgroup.com/titles/brian-merchant/bl…) by Brian Merchant
• Other Book Club Episodes (luckypaper.co/podcast/tag/book-club)
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Check us out on Twitch (twitch.tv/luckypapermtg) and YouTube (youtube.com/channel/UCx9a677zDh8t5jvOHQuBsjA) for paper Cube gameplay.
You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:
• Andy’s “Bun Magic” Cube (cubecobra.com/cube/overview/andymangold)
• Anthony’s “Regular” Cube (cubecobra.com/cube/overview/regular)
You can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord (discord.gg/WyEeGABT8P). Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:
Lucky Paper
PO Box 4855
Baltimore, MD 21211
Musical production by DJ James Nasty (facebook.com/jamesnasty).
Timestamps
• 0:00 - Intro
• 2:42 - The Design of Everyday Things
• 7:43 - Mental Models
• 12:04 - Trouble With Mapping
• 16:58 - Cube REL/Humility
• 19:40 - Don Please Turn off the Podcast
• 21:03 - Types of Errors
• 26:30 - Games are Intentionally Bad Design
• 32:04 - Constraints
• 34:55 - Knowledge in the World
• 42:28 - Learned Helplessness
• 48:20 - Neologisms
• 50:59 - Choosing the Next Book