Most people blame themselves for “bad decisions,” but this episode reveals how broken systems and bad design are often really to blame. Dr. Don Norman explains how everyday design failures, from confusing doors and stove controls to nuclear power plants, quietly shape our choices and our lives.

In this episode, Dante and Dr. Don discuss:

• System design vs. personal failure in financial decisions
• Everyday bad design (“Norman doors,” stoves, light switches)
• Human error types: slips, capture errors, description errors
• AI as a collaborative assistant for better decision-making and design
• Emotional design, creativity, and redesigning economic incentives

Key Takeaways: 

• Many “bad decisions,” especially in complex areas like finance or home buying, stem less from individual failure and more from systems that are confusing, opaque, and poorly designed.
• People naturally blame themselves when they can’t operate everyday objects, but in reality, much of the frustration comes from flawed design that ignores how humans actually think and behave.
• Human errors are often predictable rather than random. Capture errors, description errors, and slips become more likely when routines, time pressure, or confusing interfaces work against us.
• Generative AI represents a step-change in technology: used as a collaborator rather than a replacement, it can augment human judgment, surface hidden issues, and make complex decisions more informed.
• Truly impactful design and even economic systems should optimize for long-term quality of life and community well-being, not short-term profits or sales metrics, and often require “mavericks” who challenge the way things have always been done.

“One of the reasons that it's hard to detect dementia and Alzheimer's is because a lot of the errors that are caused by the disease are also the kind of errors we do every day.” - Dr. Don Norman

About Dr. Don Norman: Don Norman is Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Founder of the Design Lab at the University of California, San Diego. He previously served as Vice President of Advanced Technology at Apple and an executive at HP, and is the co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, he has received numerous honors, including lifetime achievement awards from ACM and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, as well as the 2022 Frontier Design Prize. He currently advises Tongji University in Shanghai and the School of Design at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Don has authored 21 books translated into more than 20 languages, including The Design of Everyday Things and Emotional Design. His latest book is Design for a Better World: Meaningful, Sustainable, Humanity-Centered.

Connect with Dr. Don Norman:

Website: https://jnd.org/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnorman/ 

Book - The Design of Everyday Things: https://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Revised-Expanded/dp/0465050654 

Connect with Dante Royster:

Website: https://www.danteroyster.com/

Epic Mortgage Website: Epic Mortgage, Inc. NMLS 1885086

Facebook: EpicMortgage1885086

Epic Mortgage Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/epicmortgage/

“The Ultimate Mortgage Guide” book: https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Mortgage-Guide-Secure-Best/dp/1956220631 

LinkedIn: Dante Royster | LinkedIn

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanteRoyster

YouTube: Epic Spotlight 

Email: [email protected]  

The 9 states that Epic Mortgage is licensed in are: Illinois/Indiana/Michigan/Colorado/Maryland/Virginia/Florida/Georgia/Texas

Show notes by Podcastologist: Francine Poblete

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.