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ArticlesBooks, People, LinksArchivesRecent Book ReviewsReviews in Preparation
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Books & PeopleThe Books & People corner of the Community section offers lists of books on user interface and graphic design, well-known UI people, as well as a growing selection of book reviews. On this page we also present books and UI and graphic design experts. Note: We moved the link collections, visualization and other information pages to the Goodies section (links remain unchanged).
Recent Book Reviews
Casey & Ben Fry: Processing – A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists (04/25/2008)
Reas and Fry's book about the Processing programming language and its applications for designers and artists comes in at a hefty 600 plus pages and includes a multitude of programming exercises and examples. Regrettably, I have no chance of reading this book and performing the exercises as well as my day-to-day work. So I have to concede that this review is based on scanning the pages to get an overview of the language and its applications. I also read some passages that especially attracted my interest, downloaded a Windows and Apple Macintosh version of the Processing programming environment, ran many of the examples provided with the environment. Read the review new Rich Gold: The Plenitude: Creativity, Innovation, and Making Stuff (03/31/2008)
Rich Gold was probably one of the most creative and multi-faceted persons of our time. Born in 1950, he performed as an experimental musician, designer, and artist in the seventies. Thereafter, he worked at various times at diverse locations, such as Xerox PARC and the toy companies SEGA and Mattel. In his later years, Gold was also a sought-after speaker. He gave presentations about creativity and innovation to groups as diverse as "sailors in the Coast Guard, scientists at IBM, artists at the Adelaide Art Festival, designers at the Aspen Design Conference, and CEOs at the World Economic Forum." In the last year of his busy but regrettably too short life – he died of cancer in 2003 – Gold wrote The Plenitude, a short inspiring book, which captures his ideas about creativity, innovation, and the human desire for "making stuff." The book can be regarded as Gold's legacy to the world. Read the review new
Robert Spence: Information Visualization (2nd Ed.) (01/12/2008) Seven years after the first edition of his textbook Information Visualization, Robert Spence published the second edition of his book, increasing the volume by more than 70 pages, although not the book's thickness – the new edition seems to be made of lighter and thinner paper. The publisher explains that the second edition has been updated as follows: a new structure, new case studies, new material material on cognitive issues in human performance, and updated examples and illustrations. In addition, there are new student exercises at the end of each chapter, and a new DVD full of videos illustrating diverse visualization techniques. So, let's see what the new version of the textbook has to offer. Book Reviews In PreparationThe following book reviews are in preparation:
New and Recommended BooksBill Buxton: Sketching User Experiences – Getting the Design Right and the Right Design (04/15/2008)
Hardly a day goes by that we don't see an announcement for some
new product or technology that is going to make our lives easier,
solve some or all of our problems, or simply make the world a better
place. However, the reality is that few of these products survive,
much less deliver on their promise. But are we learning from these
expensive mistakes? Rather than rethink the underlying process that
brings these products to market, the more common strategy seems to
be the shotgun method, that is, keep blasting away in the hope that
one of the pellets will eventually hit the bull's eye. This book's
goal is to help with this problem: to inspire and encourage HCI and
other design professionals to try new methods, test themselves with
the exercises and projects, and see an improvement in innovative
interaction design that works. Bill Buxton (2008). Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN-10: 0123740371, ISBN-13: 978-0123740373 new See the book in the book list... • Overview of all featured books Colin Ware: Visual Thinking: for Design (04/15/2008)
Increasingly, designers need to present information in ways that
aid their audiences thinking process. Fortunately, results from the
relatively new science of human visual perception provide valuable
guidance. In Visual Thinking: For Design, Colin Ware takes
what we now know about perception, cognition, and attention and transforms
it into concrete advice that designers can directly apply. He demonstrates
how designs can be considered as tools for cognition – extensions
of the viewers brain in much the same way that a hammer is an extension
of the users hand. Experienced professional designers and students
alike will learn how to maximize the power of the information tools
they design for the people who use them. Colin Ware (2008). Visual Thinking: For Design . Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN-10: 0123708966, ISBN-13: 978-0123708960 new See the book in the book list... • Overview of all featured books Alan Cooper, Robert M. Reimann & Dave Cronin: About Face 3.0 (01/10/2008)
Alan Cooper, Robert M. Reimann & Dave Cronin (2007). About Face 3.0: The Essentials of Design. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 0470084111 (Paperback) See the book in the book list... • Overview of all featured books
Featured UI & Design PeopleBrad Myers (03/14/2008)
Brad A. Myers is a Professor in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He is the principal investigator for the Pebbles Handheld Computer Project and the Natural Programming Project, and previously led the Amulet and Garnet projects. He is the author or editor of over 300 publications, including the books "Creating User Interfaces by Demonstration" and "Languages for Developing User Interfaces." Myers has been a consultant on user interface design and implementation
to over 60 companies, and regularly teaches courses on user interface
design and software. His research interests include user interface
development systems, user interfaces, handheld computers, programming
environments, programming language design, programming by example,
visual programming, interaction techniques, and window management. Bio: www.cs.cmu.edu/~bam Jonathan Grudin (03/14/2008)
Jonathan Grudin works in the Adaptive Systems and Interaction Group
at Microsoft Research, part of the Microsoft Corporation. His research
is in human-computer interaction and computer supported cooperative
work, with a particular focus on the design, adoption and use of
group support technologies. Some of his work was also done in the
Collaborative and Multimedia Systems Group. Prior to joining Microsoft
Research, Grudin was Professor of Information and Computer Science
at University of California, Irvine. Bio: research.microsoft.com/~jgrudin
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