BusinessWeek Names Don Norman One of World's Most Influential Designers

BusinessWeek magazine chose Don Norman, the Allen K. and Johnnie Cordell Breed Senior Professor in Design, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and co-director of the Segal Design Institute, as one of the world's 27 most influential designers.

According to the magazine, "From design thinkers to hands-on design doers in industries from graphics to industrial to auto design, our chosen 27 luminaries represent a diverse cross-section of design disciplines. But all those selected have one thing in common: They are in some way responsible for shaping the world around us."

Norman is the cofounder of the Nielsen Norman Group and has been vice president of Apple Computer and an executive at Hewlett Packard. He serves on many advisory boards, such as the editorial advisory board of Encyclopedia Britannica and KAIST. He has received honorary degrees from the University of Padova (Italy) and the Technical University of Delft (the Netherlands), the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from SIGCHI, the professional organization for computer-human interaction, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer & Cognitive Science from the Franklin Institute (Philadelphia).

He is well known for his books "The Design of Everyday Things" and "Emotional Design." His latest book, "The Design of Future Things," discusses the role that automation plays in such everyday places as the home, and automobile. He is currently working on a new book called Sociable Design that combines the lessons of his previous works, extending them to cover social networks and social interaction.

BusinessWeek says, "Provocative, straightforward, and never less than insightful, Norman is currently working on an updated version of his book, The Design of Everyday Things, already a must-read for any executive looking to understand the scope of design."