University industrial design programs are usually cloistered in schools of art or architecture, and students in such programs are rarely required to study science or technology.
That bothers Don Norman, former head of research at Apple and an advocate of user-friendly design.
Having traditional design skills—in traditional artistic pursuits like drawing and modeling—isn’t enough, he says, because the creators of good products and services also must have a working knowledge of everything from the technical underpinnings of microprocessors and programming to the policy aspects of information security.