Book Description
Designing a good interface isn't easy. Users demand software that is well-behaved, good-looking, and easy to use. Your clients or managers demand originality and a short time to market. Your UI technology -- web applications, desktop software, even mobile devices -- may give you the tools you need, but little guidance on how to use them well.
UI designers over the years have refined the art of interface design, evolving many best practices and reusable ideas. If you learn these, and understand why the best user interfaces work so well, you too can design engaging and usable interfaces with less guesswork and more confidence.
Designing Interfaces captures those best practices as design patterns -- solutions to common design problems, tailored to the situation at hand. Each pattern contains practical advice that you can put to use immediately, plus a variety of examples illustrated in full color. You'll get recommendations, design alternatives, and warnings on when not to use them.
Each chapter's introduction describes key design concepts that are often misunderstood, such as affordances, visual hierarchy, navigational distance, and the use of color. These give you a deeper understanding of why the patterns work, and how to apply them with more insight.
A book can't design an interface for you -- no foolproof design process is given here -- but Designing Interfaces does give you concrete ideas that you can mix and recombine as you see fit. Experienced designers can use it as a sourcebook of ideas. Novice designers will find a roadmap to the world of interface and interaction design, with enough guidance to start using these patterns immediately.
Customer Reviews:
Good but not user-friendly.......2007-06-16
This book does to UI design what the well-known "Design Patterns" did for software design. Many readers, specially those experienced in graphical and UI design will find much of the content familiar, when not trivial, but the purpose of a "pattern language" book is not to break new ground but to formalize and explain a well known language.
The book is beautifully laid out and illustrated. The amount of theory preceding each group of patterns seems right on the mark.
¿Why the low star rating?
The book's binding broke before I finished reading it, something that's completely not user-friendly. If you're not in a hurry I'd wait for a second edition that fixes the problem.
A good reference and prefab pattern library........2007-04-30
I found this a bit shallow as a read-through textbook or handbook, but it should make a very useful reference and may serve well as a prefab pattern library. I think it will serve best for those working on web sites and web apps, though it also covers desktop apps.
Designing Interfaces.......2007-04-24
Designing Interfaces is a great book to get you started on the subject, wether you are a designer or a developer, this books will show you how important is to *design* you application.
Concepts are presented as design patterns and they are intended to help you resovle real world problems, some knowledge of UI design is recommended but every patten is described and explained very well, the use of the "Use When", "Why" and "How To" sections will give you al the information you need to know to make a decision on the use of any specific solution.
From web forms to destop application, this books will show you the right way to make the user's interaction experience as simple and intuitive as possible.
Jump-started my problem-solving process.......2007-03-21
Having already read through the first few chapters, today I sat down with an explicit need: to solve a problem that involved searching and filtering a large set of data. This book came through for me. Yes, some of it appears obvious when you first read through, but once you have a specific problem to address, its true utility emerges. I opened to the Showing Complex Data chapter, and as I read through, ideas began to form. Some came directly from the book, others were inspired by or related to what I was reading. I took notes, and those notes helped me develop the questions about the data and the users I need to answer in order to continue.
When you're faced with a design challenge, and you're a bit stymied as to how to proceed, this book will help move the solution forward. Even if you think you have a solution, this book can help you make it fresh and creative.
Usefull, Concise - Great.......2007-02-24
This is a really usefull book. It's also simply interesting to read.
Average customer rating:
- Interactions = more than websites
- Interesting, helpful
- Add this book to your product development library - NOW!
- A must have for any user experience practioner or student
- Interesting overview on interaction
|
Designing Interactions
Bill Moggridge
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0262134748 |
Book Description
Digital technology has changed the way we interact with everything from the games we play to the tools we use at work. Designers of digital technology products no longer regard their job as designing a physical object--beautiful or utilitarian--but as designing our interactions with it. In Designing Interactions, award-winning designer Bill Moggridge introduces us to forty influential designers who have shaped our interaction with technology. Moggridge, designer of the first laptop computer (the GRiD Compass, 1981) and a founder of the design firm IDEO, tells us these stories from an industry insider's viewpoint, tracing the evolution of ideas from inspiration to outcome. The innovators he interviews--including Will Wright, creator of The Sims, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google, and Doug Engelbart, Bill Atkinson, and others involved in the invention and development of the mouse and the desktop--have been instrumental in making a difference in the design of interactions. Their stories chart the history of entrepreneurial design development for technology.
Moggridge and his interviewees discuss such questions as why a personal computer has a window in a desktop, what made Palm's handheld organizers so successful, what turns a game into a hobby, why Google is the search engine of choice, and why 30 million people in Japan choose the i-mode service for their cell phones. And Moggridge tells the story of his own design process and explains the focus on people and prototypes that has been successful at IDEO--how the needs and desires of people can inspire innovative designs and how prototyping methods are evolving for the design of digital technology.
Designing Interactions is illustrated with more than 700 images, with color throughout. Accompanying the book is a DVD that contains segments from all the interviews intercut with examples of the interactions under discussion.
Interviews with:
Bill Atkinson, Durrell Bishop, Brendan Boyle, Dennis Boyle, Paul Bradley, Duane Bray, Sergey Brin, Stu Card, Gillian Crampton Smith, Chris Downs, Tony Dunne, John Ellenby, Doug Englebart, Jane Fulton Suri, Bill Gaver, Bing Gordon, Rob Haitani, Jeff Hawkins, Matt Hunter, Hiroshi Ishii, Bert Keely, David Kelley, Rikako Kojima, Brenda Laurel, David Liddle, Lavrans Løvlie, John Maeda, Paul Mercer, Tim Mott, Joy Mountford, Takeshi Natsuno, Larry Page, Mark Podlaseck, Fiona Raby, Cordell Ratzlaff, Ben Reason, Jun Rekimoto, Steve Rogers, Fran Samalionis, Larry Tesler, Bill Verplank, Terry Winograd, and Will Wright
Customer Reviews:
Interactions = more than websites.......2007-08-16
Somehow I didn't pick up on this until I actualy paged through the book physically -- this isn't just about website or multimedia. It's about anything that has a human interface, including laptop computers. (Unfortunately, Amazon pairs it with many Internet/website design books, adding to my confusion.)
Because it seems to cover the whole range of interface use and recent history, I didn't really go farther into the book to review it.
Interesting, helpful.......2007-04-07
I just got the book for a week, read half of it. it's quite interesting to know something happens in the last 30 years, the author come up with interviewing the guy who made these things happen, let the guys explain their thoughts on the cases, this make the book interesting and helpful.
It's a pity that the book go too fast for each case, when you want to know more details, it stops. Anyway, this book seems dosent want to serve as something try to reach this goal. so this is not the weakness of the book.
Most important thing, when reading it , you'll get the interesting pieces. And it guide you to walk along the colorful road in the IxD forest. This is really cool book.
Something make it not so nice. To thick to put into the bag.
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[...]
Add this book to your product development library - NOW!.......2007-03-26
It's easy to get carried away with the claims that Moggride's book is an instant classic. But I'd have to agree, this book would be worth paying more than $100 for. The book carries its wisdom well, and now sits on my work bookshelf for constant reference. I will use this while planning for and conducting user experience based products. This book does concentrate more in the field of software development, however the lessons translate well into general product design. As such I'd recommend this book to any designer who is interested in improving their user centred products.
A must have for any user experience practioner or student.......2007-02-23
It's a great volume at a great price. The content is very approachable and readable, almost like a coffee table book to introduce the power and effect of great user experience and interaction design to non industry folk. Its a classic in the same league as books by Norman and by Papanek. The DVD shows that this book was well thought with the same craft as other Ideo products. I also recommend the book "Art of Innovation" which talks about Ideo specifically and the practices they use.
Interesting overview on interaction.......2007-01-15
As the internet is still young and rapidly growing in diverse directions, I'm always looking out for books like this, that give a perspective on how things actually started and who were the persons involved in the early stages. It just shows you, that what we consider a "normal" interface or application today is based on the ideas of a few people, real pioneers for their field. And it gives you an idea on how future interfaces might look like. Not the full 5 stars, as the narrative approach turns out to deliver long passages that I would consider a bit too personal and contain little information on the subject.
Amazon.com
There's certainly no shortage of software design methods: most demand total allegiance, and many claim to be the only true way to delivering useful and maintainable software systems in a timely manner. Contextual Design describes another worthwhile software engineering method, one that places the user (or customer) at the forefront of the software design process from beginning to end. This method seems to be a particularly worthwhile addition to the literature.
Contextual Design begins with contextual inquiry, where software developers interview users and attempt to understand the way they work. Such "customer empathy" is central to the Contextual Design process and a total understanding of "work" within organizations is the mantra here. The book describes how, later in the process, software developers step back from the user data and do an "affinity," which is an overall analysis of hundreds (or even thousands) of individual facts. Contextual Design then explains the additional steps required to build systems using this method, including building models for flow, sequence, and artifacts, and establishing the cultural and the physical environments for a system. After getting an overview, developers consolidate these initial models, get more user input, and then design user interfaces.
This book, written in a clear, informal style without excessive jargon, reads very much like a book on business motivation. Various practitioners of Contextual Design offer short testimonials on the software design method.
Book Description
This book introduces a customer-centered approach to business by showing how data gathered from people while they work can drive the definition of a product or process while supporting the needs of teams and their organizations. This is a practical, hands-on guide for anyone trying to design systems that reflect the way customers want to do their work. The authors developed Contextual Design, the method discussed here, through their work with teams struggling to design products and internal systems. In this book, you'll find the underlying principles of the method and how to apply them to different problems, constraints, and organizational situations.
Contextual Design enables you to
+ gather detailed data about how people work and use systems
+ develop a coherent picture of a whole customer population
+ generate systems designs from a knowledge of customer work
+ diagram a set of existing systems, showing their relationships, inconsistencies, redundancies, and omissions
Customer Reviews:
In how many ways can you say it..........2007-04-27
If you've got a memory like a gold fish this might be a great book. For others this book is likely to be repetative to the extreme. Half of the pages could easily be cut out. The same message gets repeated over and over again. Many of the ideas are great but.. for many people out there time is a limiting factor, thats my largest issue with both the book and the method in general.
Techniques requirement.......2004-05-13
This book provided a method to gather requirement efficiently but the rest of the method should be revised.
Great book, right price.......2002-02-14
Beyer & Holtzblatt have done an excellent job describing the process of contextual design. I'm currently implementing a new company-wide business process, in conjunction with co-workers, and thought it would simply be a good idea to both refresh my memory, gather ideas, and form concepts that would be helpful in the organizational design process. This book has undoubtedly served the purposes I've wanted it to. Again, excellent book - worth the buy.
Useless.......2001-11-27
This is quite a useless book about an otherwise interesting subject. The writers give redundancy and repetition new meaning as they repeat themselves by saying the same thing over and over innumerable ways.
That said, the examples scattered throughout the text are the most interesting part.
Hard to Penetrate.......2001-08-22
I have read a lot of glowing reviews about this book but I have found that, while it is good, I think it is too dense to be great. It is a very difficult read. The writing style is very heavy. I would love a one-pager of the ideas in this book. My sense is that it would read "Watch Users." There are better books on the subject. I like "The Inmates are Running the Asylum."
Average customer rating:
- Superb history of Virtual Worlds development
- The theory behind Virtual Worlds
- Designing Virtual Worlds
- Game theory and design? This is the book you've been looking for!
- Guide to the philosophy and strategy of designing virtual worlds
|
Designing Virtual Worlds
Richard Bartle
Manufacturer: New Riders Games
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ASIN: 0131018167 |
Book Description
Designing Virtual Worlds is the most comprehensive treatment of virtual worlddesign to-date from one of the true pioneers and most sought-after design consultants. It's a tour de force of VW design, stunning in intellectual scope, spanning the literary,economic, sociological, psychological, physical, technological, and ethicalunderpinnings of design, while providing the reader with a deep, well-grounded understanding of VW design principles. It covers everything from MUDs to MOOs to MMORPGs, from text-based to graphical VWs.
Designing Virtual Worlds brings a rich, well-developed approach to the designconcepts behind virtual worlds. It is grounded in the earliest approaches to such designs, but the examples discussed in the book run the gamut from the earliest MUDs to the present-day MMORPG games mentioned above. It teaches the reader the actual, underlying design principles that many designers do not understand when they borrow or build from previous games. There is no other design book on the market in the area of online games and virtual worlds that provides the rich detail, historical context, and conceptual depth ofDesigning Virtual Worlds.
Customer Reviews:
Superb history of Virtual Worlds development.......2007-06-27
Mr. Bartle's writing is precise and his facts carefully researched, even the ones he experienced himself. This is a huge, superbly constructed history of the tools and philosophies developed over the years in experimental and commercial development of online virtual worlds. Because of Mr. Bartle's personal knowledge as a long-time designer and his sharp memory for the significance of trends and details, this book will raise anyone's appreciation of whatever virtual worlds one comes across on line or on disk, whether they be famous commercial ones or those developed by enthusiasts for their own pleasure. I would think it would be a must read for gaming students. What a grand, satisfying, fascinating book! And when one considers that this exciting history is only the beginning of VW development... Wow!
The theory behind Virtual Worlds.......2007-03-31
This book taught me the theory behind Virtual worlds and I beleive nearly everything I read in this book.
I didn't simply believe everything because it was a published book, I beleived it because Richard used examples from real games. With all the experiance Richard has you would expect him to have learnt everything the hard way, he has but he's also smart enough to realise that sometimes you can learn from others mistakes instead of making them yourself.
The book is aimed at the 'Dungeons and Dragons' (and most of his examples are) type of game but there is no reason the information cannot be used in other genres.
The most amusing part is how right he can be.
Richard states that 'you cannot allow players to carry items over from the Beta testing to the online game, even though your players will try to convince you otherwise'; something I didn't really think and didn't really agree with.
My family and I were all about to join 'Pirates of the Caribbean' when it started; when the announcement was made that players form the Beta test would be allowed to keep items my daughters asked what a Beta test was, I explained and now they don't want to play as they consider that to be cheating. We have all decided not to play.
Learn from others (like Richard) or pay the price.
James
Designing Virtual Worlds.......2007-01-10
Covers all the aspects of virtual worlds from a psycological perspective; the intentions, the types of virtual worlds.
Doesn't include indepth technology and the development issues related to designing virtual worlds
Good primer on virtual worlds.
Game theory and design? This is the book you've been looking for!.......2006-07-17
You're getting it straight from the horse's mouth since this book is written by the grandfather of the modern MMORPG.
Rest assured - if you are a game designer, developer, or just love reading about game theory, this book is worth every penny.
I have read many other books on the subject and not one of them are packed with as much depth, knowledge, and wisdom. Bartle covers every avenue that a designer needs to consider in order to be successful. This book will help you and your team create an active, emergent virtual world.
As a game developer, I learned many valuable lessons on what made other games lose subscribers, or worse -- catastrophically fail.
Richard Bartle's writing style is very creative and detailed, and like his games, it gives you the 'just one more page' syndrome. For example, in this book it mentions how often a player must be rewarded in order to retain interest. He uses this same technique for writing by giving you something insightful to read atleast every 10 pages.
Bartle has covered all the bases. Designing Virtual Worlds is a great book, very entertaining. I give it 5 out of 5 stars - a must read.
More than 700 well-written pages packed with valuable insights, and it still leaves you begging for more.
Guide to the philosophy and strategy of designing virtual worlds.......2006-02-07
To begin with, this book is not a programming book. There is no code, no discussion of VRML, MPEG-4, or X3D. Instead, this book stands back and takes a "big picture" look at the design of a virtual world from the viewpoint of systems engineering, social engineering, philosophy, history, and psychology. Ethical considerations are even tossed in for good measure.
The book starts out with chapters on the history of virtual worlds and the cultural influences that affected their characteristics. Next, there is a fly-over view of the "production line" of building a virtual world. Bartle then turns his attention to the players - who they are, what they want, and how a virtual world can meet their needs. World design is examined from the standpoint of virtual geography, virtual world citizens, and finally the physics required to implement your world. Chapter 5 is about the specific sociology and physiology of the virtual world - skill levels, individual characteristics, how virtual inhabitants divide themselves into groups, combat, and even the meaning of death in the virtual world. The final three chapters are very philisophical in nature. Chapter 6 is basically a liberal arts syllabus through the prism of virtual world design. The last chapter, on ethical considerations, talks about censorship, and also looks at the player as a person and how game playing in virtual worlds can hurt more than help some kinds of people, particularly those prone to addiction.
Bartle's social commentaries may be a bit long-winded for some people, although I found them interesting. Some readers may also be somewhat frustrated by the fact that the book talks more about what can go wrong in the design of a virtual world - overly complex and static story arcs, characters that players do not get invested in, characters in which players get too invested, etc - than what can go right. I really enjoyed the book, mainly because it moves the focus of the potential virtual world designer from the artistic and technical viewpoint to the player's viewpoint - why they plays games, and why a player would pick your game versus someone else's game.
Book Description
The classic text,
Interaction Design by Sharp, Preece and Rogers is back in a fantastic new
2
nd Edition!
New to this edition:
- Completely updated to include new chapters on Interfaces, Data Gathering and Data Analysis and Interpretation, the latest information from recent research findings and new examples
- Now in full colour
- A lively and highly interactive Web site that will enable students to collaborate on experiments, compete in design competitions, collaborate on designs, find resources and communicate with others
- A new practical and process-oriented approach showing not just what principals ought to apply, but crucially how they can be applied
"The best basis around for user-centered interaction design, both as a primer for students as an introduction to the field, and as a resource for research practitioners to fall back on. It should be labelled 'start here'."
—Pieter Jan Stappers, ID-StudioLab, Delft University of Technology
Customer Reviews:
Desining Interaction Design.......2007-09-23
So, I bought this book "Interaction Design, 2nd Edition" by Sharp, Rogers and Preece, and I thought maybe the world is interested in my two cents. So here it goes ;-)
Despite the fact that the authors use a lot of words in order to explain even the simplest facts, the book is written concisely and presents a clearly understandable train of thought that leads from the very first introductory page to the very last reference page. The authors start out by giving small introductions to every chapter, explaining what is covered on the following pages. A large amount of boxes with extra information and "comments" help to deepen the insight of the covered material. Many pictures, drawings and graphs visualize very abstract sections and a (very) short summary after each chapter is of great value when you would like to freshen up what you have read earlier. The book's layout clearly is geared towards students, as it incorporates many colored boxes and pictures, without, however, being inconsistent. This makes it possible to skim through the book and look up some information without reading through entire sections. Experts in Human-Computer Interaction might wish for a lower amount of examples to bring a point across and would like the authors to have focused on the details a little more. Also, the fact that the authors make a lot of inline citations gives rise to the impression that they only repeat other's ideas. Yet, in fact, the book incorporates a fair amount of the authors' research (as one can easily see in the references), which is presented most modestly.
The book is literally on interaction design, NOT usability testing and NOT on other HCI methodology. If one is interested in that, I would strongly recommend Kuniavsky (2003) and Rubin (1994). If you are interested in interaction design and the principles that lead to a good user experience, this book is for you. Especially novices in ID will appreciate the level of detail, the amount of examples and extra information and the thorough explanations. Experts will find this book helpful and invaluable, yet sometimes a little wordy.
An essential introduction to HCI.......2007-05-16
I think this book is a must-read, essential of the introduction to HCI.
It covers all the important aspects of interaction design with an important and coherent message--user-centeredness for design. It is not a mere collection of the elements that need to be learned in HCI. The authors emphasize the importance of user-centeredness in interaction design, and exhaustively and thoughtfully integrate all the knowledge that is essential to this approach in the field of HCI.
I would strongly recommend this book to any serious instructors for HCI who like to teach the state-of-art directions and approaches in user-centered interaction design in HCI with covering all the important concepts founded in cognitive psychology, software development and design methods, and various user study techniques to be used in interaction design.
I barely spent time on this textbook........2006-12-23
It was somehow helpful to understand on some topics.
However, Interaction Design is kind of subjective topic.
Hence, I think this book is quite good on giving some examples to make a clear point.
Disappointed.......2006-11-11
there were almost 20 pages missing
on both chapters 8 and 9
this is very disappointing...
One of the Groundbreaking Books on HCI..........2006-11-06
If you work in application design or development, software, or web design... READ THIS BOOK! It will take your work to the next level.
Be warned, though... it is terribly boring! You'll think you're in college again. Don't put it down though, it's important knowledge.
Book Description
"The following description is for the second edition of About Face. The 3rd Edtion, About Face 3 (ISBN 0470084111), is now available."
First published seven years ago-just before the World Wide Web exploded into dominance in the software world-About Face rapidly became a bestseller. While the ideas and principles in the original book remain as relevant as ever, the examples in About Face 2.0 are updated to reflect the evolution of the Web.
Interaction Design professionals are constantly seeking to ensure that software and software-enabled products are developed with the end-user's goals in mind, that is, to make them more powerful and enjoyable for people who use them. About Face 2.0 ensures that these objectives are met with the utmost ease and efficiency.
Alan Cooper (Palo Alto, CA) has spent a decade making high-tech products easier to use and less expensive to build-a practice known as "Interaction Design." Cooper is now the leader in this growing field. Mr. Cooper is also the author of two bestselling books that are widely considered indispensable texts. About Face: The Essentials of User Interface Design, intro-duced the first comprehensive set of practical design principles. The Inmates Are Running the Asylum explains how talented people and companies continually create aggravating high-tech products that fail to meet customer expectations.
Robert Reimann has spent the past 15 years pushing the boundaries of digital products as a designer, writer, lecturer, and consultant. He has led dozens of interaction design projects in domains including e-commerce, portals, desktop productivity, authoring environments, medical and scientific instrumentation, wireless, and handheld devices for startups and Fortune 500 clients alike. Joining Cooper in 1996, Reimann led the development and refinement of many goal-directed design methods described in About Face 2.0. He has lectured on these methods at major universities and to international industry audiences. He is a member of the advisory board of the UC Berkeley Institute of Design.
Customer Reviews:
Alan Cooper is a genius.......2007-04-07
This book not only defines a "layman user" but also answers the question of how your application can educate a layman user step by step.
Designing of application.......2006-11-10
How to design a application from a designers perspective. Cannot say I agree with everything, but the writers are probably right.
Needs more examples!.......2006-05-16
I think this guy has a book about how the inmates are running the asylum...well this book suffers from what happens when the subject matter experts (SME) are allowed to write books. BORING!!! SME's always seem to forget to include compelling examples. Yes there are little screen shots, but IMO in order for a book to be compelling that has to do with design...it needs to show LOTS of examples of good design. The bulk of the book should be about breaking down those designs. I need to hear why a specific design is effective. Take a hint from Steve Krugs book "Don't Make me Think". That book is extremely effective without inundating the reader with jargon. Lots of examples with meaningful visual breakdowns. Afterall...isnt UI design a VISUAL communication form?
Not for experienced developers.......2006-03-05
I have 7 years experience and I wasn't able to get any value out of this book. Based on some of the reviews on this site I thought that the book would be worth buying but unless you are in school or right out of school then your $35 is better spent elsewhere.
I suggest that you put your $35 towards "The Usability Engineering Lifecycle" by Deborah J. Mayhew. Don't let the $64.95 price tag scare you away. This book is worth $100.
Good on concepts, weaker on examples.......2006-02-21
This follow up to About Face is a good overview of the critical concepts to improve software usability. Cooper and Reiman know their stuff. Reading this certainly provides you with the grounding you need to make good decisions. At a tactical level, the book could certainly do more to help with real-world examples.
For that, you may want to take a look instead at Jenifer Tidwell's Designing Interfaces : Patterns for Effective Interaction Design. Where About Face is strong on theory, Designing Interfaces is all about practical ideas, demonstrated through graphical examples.
If UI is an important part of your world, buy them both.
Book Description
Smart organizations recognize that Web design is more than just creating clean code and sharp graphics. A site that really works fulfills your strategic objectives while meeting the needs of your users. Even the best content and the most sophisticated technology won't help you balance those goals without a cohesive, consistent user experience to support it.
But creating the user experience can seem overwhelmingly complex. With so many issues involved-usability, brand identity, information architecture, interaction design-it can seem as if the only way to build a successful site is to spend a fortune on specialists who understand all the details.
The Elements of User Experience cuts through the complexity of user-centered design for the Web with clear explanations and vivid illustrations that focus on ideas rather than tools or techniques. Jesse James Garrett gives readers the big picture of Web user experience development, from strategy and requirements to information architecture and visual design. This accessible introduction helps any Web development team, large or small, to create a successful user experience.
Customer Reviews:
Wasn't helpful with a large web matrixed project.......2007-06-22
I found this approach confusing, especially the separation of structural and skeleton planes. I relied heavily on Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sitesand Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition.
Essential concepts presented clearly.......2007-05-31
I wish I'd bought this book when it came out, as it serves well as a foundation for those new to the field. Garrett presents key organizing concepts of user-centered design in a quick, pleasurable read. A visually clean, balanced layout with lots of white space embodies parallel print design principles. My one critique is that the graphics occasionally miss the mark by oversimplifying or confusing textually-articulated concepts. In a world of many words, this book trims the fat and gets the concepts across as well as any I have seen. I recommend it not only for newcomers, but for seasoned practitioners, who may find, as I did, a concise summary worth its place on the bookshelf.
A guide with the best practices for user-centered design for the web.......2007-03-18
Garrett has made a reputation in the Web world through his time at the helm of Adaptive Path, which he founded several years ago. Back in 2002, he published this book, aimed at providing a framework for designing for the Web (and arguably for other media) with the user in mind. His proposed methodology is so effective that, even five years after the publishing date, the book still is valuable and relevant. The only parts in the book where time has made it less useful are the sections at the end of each chapter, where Garrett proposes Further Reading resources, many of which have already been superseded with more recent publications.
As for the framework, Garrett proposes an approach that goes from general to specific, laying out the groundwork first by getting the strategy plane solidified with clear site objectives based on user needs. Once the strategy is clear, the scope of the project can be defined, through functional specifications and a description of content requirements. The next layer up corresponds to the structure plane, where interaction design and information architecture take place. Next up, in the skeleton plane the interface, navigation and information design (in the form of the familiar wireframes) can be designed, leaving for last the visual design at the surface plane.
As a web project manager and product manager for many years, I found Garrett's "Elements of User Experience" a confirmation of the best practices that anybody wanting to succeed at creating successful web products should take into account throughout the pre-production and production phases.
Good book to develop a user-centered website.......2007-01-24
I bought this book to write one chapter of my thesis about Experience Design. I didn't find it very useful (but my objective was academic). Basically this is a book about one process of making webdesign using an user-centered approach (a very good process in my point of view). Another interesting aspect is how the author situates the discipline "Experience Design" in relation to other disciplines like Interaction Design, Information Arquitecture, Usability, etc...
I give it three stars because there are better books available about Experience Design. Someones are not about Experience Design itself but they're about this notion of creating "user experience".
Start by seeing Nathan Shedroff's website (The father of Experience Design - www.nathan.com) and then explore the creation of meaning with books like "Semiotics: the basics", Daniel Chandler. Semiotic is the base to create a significant user experience...
(sorry about my "not so good" english ;)
Insightful, but short for the price.......2006-08-26
This book is a well-written look at, like the title says, the elements of user experience. While I think the $30 price tag (retail price) is a bit high for a 180 page book, and I think the topic would have been better covered in an eBook or long article (or series of articles), the author succeeds in communicating his vision of the pieces that comprise a user experience.
The author breaks these pieces down into 5 "planes":
The Strategy Plane, which defines site objectives and user needs.
The Scope Plane, which looks at functional specifications and content requirements (the nuts and bolts of building a site).
The Structure Plane, which covers Information Architecture.
The Skeleton Plane, which covers interface, navigation and information design.
And, finally, the Surface Plane, which covers the look and feel of the site.
While I wish there were more case studies in the book, I did appreciate the author's obvious expertise on the subject. If the book were cheaper I would rate it higher, but if you can get your hands on a used or discounted copy this is a good, fast read.
Book Description
Explore the new design discipline that is behind such products as the iPod and innovative Web sites like Flicer. While other books on this subject are either aimed at more seasoned practitioners or else are too focused on a particular medium like software, this guide will take a more holistic approach to the discipline, looking at interaction design for the Web, software, and devices. It is the only interaction design book that is coming from a designers point of view rather than that of an engineer.
This much-needed guide is more than just a how-to manual. It covers interaction design fundamentals, approaches to designing, design research, and more, and spans all mediumsâInternet, software, and devices. Even robots! Filled with tips, real-world projects, and interviews, you’ll get a solid grounding in everything you need to successfully tackle interaction design.
Customer Reviews:
Designing for Interaction.......2007-09-18
Designing for Interaction: Creating Smart Applications and Clever Devices (VOICES) is good book for me.
I learn digital medea design so it is good for me.
What is interation design?
I don't know well now.
But I will study more.
I want be a good designer in this field.
Be ambicious!
Very good book for begginers.......2007-08-20
I put five stars to this book because was very useful to begin in the world of design research, Chapter 4, furthermore the chapter 3 about the laws of interaction design is the best of the book.
Highly recommendable for beginners in design and development of services or products.
Daniel
Great introduction and insight on Interaction Designing.......2007-05-09
This book first off, is written excellently! It keeps you engaged, and shows real-world examples of Interaction Design. I felt it was a great introduction to Interaction Design, explaining what Interaction Design is and isn't. After reading the book I felt I've added much to my knowledge of designing and gave me a clear path on how to approach designing applications (specifically web applications) that users interact with that will be successful.
I highly recommend this book!
ok as an overview, but very poorly written and without references.......2007-02-06
I was very excited waiting for this book and after reading the reviews I decided to buy it. After reading it, I'm wondering if the reviewers actually read the book??? I spent some time writing this because I would like to see books better written and more useful. This is just my opinion, so read other reviews as well.
*Book direction*
Dan tried to cover too much. After all "interaction" is an extremely broad term and I think it would be much better if the book would focus more on "Interactive Systems Design", the design for interactions in systems and technology. Jesse James Garrett, did an excellent job in his book "The Elements of User Experience" by focusing it on web applications, although you can extrapolate what you learn there to a more general approach of UX. I believe that if Dan would have done the same, the book would became an excellent book and a reference book.
In my opinion, Saffer could have made this book into a reference book by being the Editor and writing about what he knows best, e.g., craft of Interaction Design (IxD):
- Each chapter could have been written by an expert in that area
- The introduction is very general, with statement that I don't really agree and I felt it is very personal - what Dan things about IxD. I read it all for the safe of being entitled to write this, but I didn't find it useful at all.
*Great*
- The Interviews: they cover very interesting topics and reading them gives a very quick and excellent insights of the topics they cover. (On the other hand, the text in the book repeats the interview points instead of going deeper). You can find the interviews online at [...].
- Organisation: very well organised and structured, which makes it easier to select what you want to read or when you want to go back to a chapter later on.
- The elements of IxD: this is quite interesting and to some extent useful. It misses some more work in the way the examples are used and in how to use these elements.
- Service chapter: this chapter is quite interesting and useful, however I would argue that it would belong to a book about User Experience.
- Very easy to read and not boring (except when you doubt about what he argues).
*Good*
- Putting it all together. The elements, interviews, aspects of good design, craft of IxD, and so forth. Great that a book puts all these together but it's a pity that was done very poorly. I still consider this good because it was a good piece of work Dan did and it will be useful for people staring with IxD. However, I look forward for such kind of book but well written.
- Size of the book: I wish more books were like this. Short and delivers the message. However, the text is not that well written and repeating most of the times what we got by reading the interviews. Instead Saffer could have picked up from the interview and explored the issues in a deeper way.
- Examples: are OK, but when the explanation started to be interesting he stops. Most of the times I felt he explains the obvious but not the design "genius" behind the product.
*Very bad*
- Meaningless text (not all): some explanations don't say more than what you see in the picture or you can read in the interview. The explanations are many times obvious instead of bringing up the design issues behind.
- No references/bibliography: Is Dan a god of IxD?? It seems so. Although he occasional refers to some people or books, there are no references at all. Not even in the end of each chapter. On one hand this makes the text very insecure and at sometimes I almost get the feeling that he is the only one believing on what he says or he is the only one that saw that example. On the other hand, saying that "this is common practice among designers" is not enough, especially when I know situations that are the opposite. In fact I cannot believe that such a book can be published without any references or bibliography. Maybe this book is a novel...
- Service Design: As I said above, I see this chapter rather in a book about User Experience. And the interviews somehow support my opinion by talking about User Experience. Perhaps, I could accept a service design chapter if Dan would have narrowed the services he talks about to more specific interactions. He might argue that Interaction Design is not just about technology but then he should have spent more time in writing the book and perhaps having other people as co-authors. In this early age of IxD it is much better to focus on concrete things, otherwise you risk you neck in talking about things that are actually from other disciplines.
- Some of the examples and explanations. I could almost say they are non-sense, but I think it just misses a bit more work to put the design explanation instead of describing the obvious. I hope I'll have time later on to put some here.
This book, in my opinion, is overrated! The book is good at collecting the arguable "element for Interaction Design" but it doesn't deliver what the reviews say. You get better of by reading the interviews online and perhaps wait for a better book. If you cannot wait, then buy this one but read something else as well so you have a critical eye when reading the book and don't take everything for granted.
I think it would be useful to define and separate: "Interaction Design" and "Interaction Systems Design". The former is too general and the second is what I call what this book says it is "Interaction Design."
A fine pick........2006-10-14
Dan Saffer's DESIGNING FOR INTERACTION: CREATING SMART APPLICATIONS AND CLEVER DEVICES comes from an authority who's worked as a Webmaster and interactive media master for the past decade. His design savvy here offers beginner to intermediate designers a range of applications and shortcuts, from using controls and widgets to designing the better mousetrap. While his isn't strictly a computer book, it does provide a range of tips on brainstorming and creating smarter applications for hardware and software alike. A fine pick.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Book Description
When it comes to advertising on the web, you just can't argue with the numbers. A $7 billion market today is expected to grow to $18.9 billion by 2010. Jupiter Research also estimates that search advertising will be a larger share of the market than display advertising by 2010. These phenomenal numbers are due largely to Google, which has changed the way the world publishes content - and advertises.
Google Advertising Tools from O'Reilly examines the business and technology behind making money with content and advertising on the web. This focused, easy-to-read guide shows you how to use Google's advertising services to make it happen. You'll find all the background information you need to work with Google AdSense, which automatically delivers text and image ads that are precisely targeted to your site, and Google AdWords, which lets you generate text ads that accompany specific search term results.
This book has specific and detailed sections on:
- Turning your web site into a profit center with AdSense
- Making sense of AdSense metrics
- Driving traffic to your site
- Optimizing sites for search engine placement
- Working with AdWords campaigns, auctions, and reports
- Managing campaigns dynamically using the AdWords APIs
Once you've read all four parts, you'll have a comprehensive picture of how advertising works on the web and how you can use the Google advertising programs to your advantage.
Customer Reviews:
Google Advertising Tools: Cashing in with AdSense, AdWords, and the Google APIs.......2007-07-15
It is estimated that Google ads reach 80% of all Internet users. No other advertising system or promotional scheme (including spam campaigns) can boast such coverage. Cashing in on Google ads either as an advertiser through AdWords or by getting paid by the click for hosting Google ads through Adsense is a pretty quick and simple process.
Google Advertising Tools is meant for the beginner advertiser or new website owner who would like to make a little extra money through hosting Google ads. This book takes the reader through the whats, the whys, the hows, and the wheres of these options. Much of the more complicated parts of these processes are even detailed step by step complete with illustrations of what the reader will see at the website. I do suggest this book to those new to Google ads. However, I also think that those already participating in these programs with find a few helpful hints and tips, particularly in the optimizing sections.
Just OK.......2007-01-10
This book was OK, I mean it has some good information but you can find most of it online so it is more of a resource book instead of a book having especially valuable information.
Im glad I bought it cause I now have a resource book on the shelf and dont have to search online and I often have limited time.
If you have the time to research online then do that, otherwise by this book.
a book to begin.......2007-01-07
if you are interested on how search engines work this a book you can start
Useful Information.......2006-12-05
While I found the book useful and inspiring, the author did bounce all over the place and made some strange comments. He even devoted an entire chapter to marketing adult sites, which I thought was a bit strange. Davis wrote at all levels conceptually, theoretically and tactically - which is good. Overall, it's a useful book with good information.
Good information, lack of statistics.......2006-11-10
Overall, this book offered a comprehensive review of the online advertisement options including Amazon associates program, google adsense, adwords and other ads aggregators etc. The author also touched the dos and donts on search optimization. The material covered is targeting business audience and IT professionals; however, it is not really heavy on technical implementation and therefore can be easily digested by average business readers. One small complaint, if more statistics and success stories can be included, this book will be more appealing.
Book Description
A commitment to usability in user interface design and development offers enormous benefits, including greater user productivity, more competitive products, lower support costs, and a more efficient development process. But what does it mean to be committed to usability? Inside, a twenty-year expert answers this question in full, presenting the techniques of Usability Engineering as a series of product lifecycle tasks that result directly in easier-to-learn, easier-to-use software.
You'll learn to perform a complete requirements analysis and then incorporate the resulting goals and constraints in a highly structured, iterative design and development process. This process doesn't end with installation but instead begins anew with the collection of user feedback that will guide further development. Also covered are organizational issues related to the implementation of Usability Engineering, including cost justification, project planning, and organizational structures.
* Unites all current UE techniques in a single, authoritative resource, presenting a coherent lifecycle process in which each clearly defined task leads directly the next.
* Teaches concrete, immediately usable skills to practitioners in all kinds of product development organizations-from internal departments to commercial developers to consultants.
* Contains examples of actual software development projects and the ways in which they have benefited from Usability Engineering.
* Deals in specifics, not generalities-provides detailed templates and instructions for every phase of the Usability Engineering lifecycle.
* Pays special attention to Web site development and explains how Usability Engineering principles can be applied to the development of any interactive product.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book.......2006-03-06
This book is very well written, content-rich and provides a plethora of examples that I can use on the job immediately. What more can a software developer ask for? I would give it 10 stars if the option was available.
Is it just me???.......2005-07-20
Or do other people think there is a need for creativity in user interface design? This book, while very helpful in providing a set of procedures to follow when evaluating users and their particular needs, leaves out the very important concept of the ART of user interface design. I see plenty of recommends for Tufte's trilogy of user oriented design books and for the book "Don't Make Me Think". These books are much more readable, and none of them are nearly so formulaic in their approach to user interface design.
Another problem I have with this book, and with many other computer books, is the size. Why does it take so much to say so little? Is there an editor in the house? There is definitely some good content in this book. I happens to be buried in a mountain of text.
My Bible.......2001-12-28
I have never written a review before, but I am so impressed with this book - it is indispensable. I particularly like the way the information is presented - very readable. Also valuable are the sections that address shortcuts and alternatives for applying techniques in the real world. I often am called to get involved during and after development and have to adapt "perfect world" techniques into very short cycles. This is a must have for people in our profession.
A pratical process with material ; can be integrated in UP.......2000-06-24
This book is great ! Really ! I pratice OO development especially following RUP. This book describe a full Usability process, with activities, guidelines, workload estimation and artifacts. You can directly put it at work, because you naturally see why an activity leads to another. All the book is good, even if it seems heavy (500+ pp), there is no waste of space. As a RUP practitioner, it's very easy to integrate this approach into the RUP and it naturally fits with Use Cases. Believe me: get it !
Must buy for human computer engineers.......2000-01-17
This book gives concrete data on the "how-to" of usability engineering and realistic data regarding the *selling process* of these concepts to management. Additionally, it can function as a "how-to" handbook with its many examples. To name a few, the examples include: pre-evaluation, evaluation and post-evaluation questionnaries, data collection sheets and data analysis and report sheets.
The book has a fantastic index for quick reference and is organized well.
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