02/04-08   -   Press releases

Bad design is bad business,’ says usability guru Don Norman before European visit

Don Norman will be a keynote speaker at Business to Buttons 2008, Europe’s meeting place for interaction designers and business managers in Malmö in June.

“Our products, whether software or physical things, must appeal to the heart as well as the mind," says Don Norman. "Emotions are more important than cognition and actions in many cases."

"Bad design leads to business failure. Design is about making things that customers want, about providing value, functionality, understandability, and pleasure. It is about designing things that can be manufactured and sold at a profit. Bad design is simply bad business," he says.

"Why are emotions important when deciding what is good design?"

“Traditional designers have always known that style, beauty and emotions are the key to the success of a product. They are completely amazed that people in the hardware and software industry think the question needs answering," Don Norman says.

Nevenka Silverhielm is an interaction designer and director of the From Business to Buttons conference, that will be held in Malmö for the second time on 12 and 13 June 2008.

“It can be tricky to know exactly what part of our design that delivers good business results. We who work with these problems every day lack tools, good examples and meeting places where we can delevop the discipline.

“FBTB has become a European meeting place where we can get inspired, learn from each other, and develop our areas of competence. This conference focuses on interactivity regardless of the technical platform.

“As a manager I will get tools that ensure better business value from my designers. As a designer I will get access to the people that define the area of interaction design, as well as to the latest news," Silverhielm says.

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For more information on the conference, contact:

Jeanette Lindblad
Project Manager
inUse AB
Web: www.businesstobuttons.com
Tel +46 70 491 67 88

For press accreditation, contact:

Nils G. Indahl
Press Officer
Benkestok BV
Web: www.businesstobuttons.com/press
Tel +46 40 621 0800