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Tribute Page

The Project​

Tribute page dedicated to Don Norman, pioneer of user-centered design and author of "The Design of Everyday Things". A book I literally devoured because I loved it so much!

Source Code​

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                <h1 id="title">Dr. Donald Arthur Norman</h1>
                <p class="subtitle">The father of user experience</p>
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                <img id="image" src="don-norman.jpg" alt="A photo of Dr. Donald Norman that discusses human-centered design principles during a conference">
                <div id="img-caption">Dr. Donald Norman that discusses human-centered design principles during a conference, part of his lifelong mission to improve human-technology interaction</div>
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                <h2>Here's a timeline of Dr. Norman's life:</h2>
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                    <li><strong>1935</strong> - Born December 25 in Cresco, Iowa</li>
                    <li><strong>1957</strong> - Graduates with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)</li>
                    <li><strong>1959</strong> - Receives M.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Pennsylvania</li>
                    <li><strong>1962</strong> - Earns Ph.D. in Psychology from University of Pennsylvania, under advisor Duncan Luce. One of the earliest graduates from the Mathematical Psychology group</li>
                    <li><strong>1962-1966</strong> - Postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University's Center for Cognitive Studies, becomes lecturer within a year</li>
                    <li><strong>1966</strong> - Moves to University of California, San Diego (UCSD) as Associate Professor of Psychology</li>
                    <li><strong>1972</strong> - Publishes "Human Information Processing: An Introduction to Psychology" with Peter Lindsay, influential textbook that helped introduce information processing to psychology</li>
                    <li><strong>1974-1978</strong> - Chair of Psychology Department at UCSD</li>
                    <li><strong>1979</strong> - Co-organizes the first meeting of the Cognitive Science Society on UCSD campus along with Roger Schank and Allan Collins</li>
                    <li><strong>1981</strong> - Writes "The Trouble with Unix: The User Interface is Horrid," pioneering critique of user interfaces</li>
                    <li><strong>1986</strong> - Publishes "User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction" with Stephen Draper, first introducing the concept of user-centered design</li>
                    <li><strong>1988</strong> - Publishes "The Psychology of Everyday Things" (later renamed "The Design of Everyday Things"), groundbreaking book that becomes the bible of user experience design</li>
                    <li><strong>1988-1993</strong> - Professor and Chair of Cognitive Science Department at UCSD (founding chair of the department)</li>
                    <li><strong>1991</strong> - Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences</li>
                    <li><strong>1993</strong> - Leaves UCSD to join Apple Computer as Apple Fellow and User Experience Architect (first use of "User Experience" in a job title), later becomes Vice President of Advanced Technology Group</li>
                    <li><strong>1995</strong> - Receives honorary degree in Psychology from University of Padua</li>
                    <li><strong>1996</strong> - Works as executive at Hewlett-Packard</li>
                    <li><strong>1998</strong> - Co-founds Nielsen Norman Group with Jakob Nielsen, leading user experience consulting firm</li>
                    <li><strong>1998-2010</strong> - Professor of Computer Science at Northwestern University and co-director of Segal Design Institute</li>
                    <li><strong>2001</strong> - Becomes Fellow of Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)</li>
                    <li><strong>2002</strong> - Receives "Lifetime Achievement Award" from CHI (Computer-Human Interaction), professional organization he helped found</li>
                    <li><strong>2004</strong> - Publishes "Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things," expanding design theory beyond functionality</li>
                    <li><strong>2006</strong> - Receives Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer & Cognitive Science from Franklin Institute</li>
                    <li><strong>2009</strong> - Named Honorary Fellow of Design Research Society</li>
                    <li><strong>2010</strong> - Publishes "Living with Complexity," arguing that complexity is necessary and beneficial</li>
                    <li><strong>2014</strong> - Returns to UCSD to become director of newly established The Design Lab</li>
                    <li><strong>2020</strong> - Retires from UCSD (his fifth retirement)</li>
                    <li><strong>2021</strong> - Receives Sir Misha Black Medal for Distinguished Services to Design Education in London</li>
                    <li><strong>2023</strong> - Publishes "Design for a Better World: Meaningful, Sustainable, Humanity Centered"</li>
                    <li><strong>Today</strong> - Active in Don Norman Design Award and Summit, nonprofit organization rewarding individuals and organizations practicing Humanity-Centered Design for societal good. Member of National Academy of Engineering</li>
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            <p class="citazione">"Design is really an act of communication, which means having a deep understanding of the person with whom the designer is communicating."</p>
            <p class="autore-citazione">-- Donald Arthur Norman</p>
            <p class="link">If you have time, you should read more about this incredible human being on his <a id="tribute-link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Norman" target="_blank">Wikipedia entry</a>.</p>
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Development Reflections​

It was easier and faster than expected! Despite working the night shift, I managed to complete 75% of the project yesterday. Today, in about an hour, I finished the refinement part, which was based on debugging the site: shrinking the window, testing with smartphone and so on.

The Refactoring UI Approach in Practice​

I applied the approach I'm learning from Refactoring UI: it's better to first do all the "rough" work that allows you to have something in hand, even if basic, then choose colors, fonts and so on. This is also because it will be much easier to detect hierarchies and problems in a grayscale site/app.

The 8px Rule​

Another very interesting thing: UI and UX rules learned from the Breccia course and the aforementioned book are increasingly crowding my mind. An example was adopting the 8px rule, establishing hierarchies and maintaining multiples of 8px to make them visually hierarchical while also ensuring adequate breathing space between elements.

The Question That's Buzzing in My Head​

Maybe this is exactly what distinguishes a developer from a UX engineer? Maximum attention to details like these?

I had a blast working on this project and can't wait to move on to the next one.