Donald Norman will be joining us on October 4, Thursday on 18:30, via teleconference, to give the Design, Technology and Society graduate program kick-off lecture.

The event will take place in room Z21 of the Koç University Social Sciences Building.

UPDATE: The event has been moved to room ENG Z50 (Engineering Auditorium) of the Koç University School of Engineering.

Norman, a leading advocate of user-centered design, will talk about what his aspirations would be and where his inspiration would come from, if he were to be a graduate student in the field of design today. A Q&A session will follow.

Please RSVP using the form below so that we may arrange the arrival of our guests with campus security.

UPDATE: The RSVP form is no longer available. We appear to have reached our maximum number of guests and we are not able to accomodate any more visitors. We’d like to thank everyone for their interest. Please keep an eye on our website and social media outlets for information on forthcoming events.

Click here for instructions on how to reach the Koç University Rumelifeneri campus.

Donald Arthur Norman (born December 25, 1935) is an academic in the field of cognitive science, design and usability engineering and a co-founder and consultant with the Nielsen Norman Group. He is the author of the book The Design of Everyday Things.

Much of Norman’s work involves the advocacy of user-centered design. His books all have the underlying purpose of furthering the field of design, from doors to computers. Norman has recently taken a controversial stance in saying that the design research community has had little impact in the innovation of products, and that whereas academics can help in refining existing products, it is technologists that accomplish the breakthroughs.

Norman splits his time between co-directing the dual-degree MBA and Engineering program Northwestern University and consulting with the Nielsen Norman Group. Norman announced that he would no longer teach full-time after the 2009-2010 academic year.

Norman is an active Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology where he spends two months a year teaching. He also holds the title of Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Science at the University of California, San Diego.

He is on numerous educational, private, and public sector advisory boards including the editorial board of Encyclopædia Britannica.