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Featured Books (Archive)

Updated: August 26, 2010

Here we compile the short presentations of new books from the Book & People page. The books appear in the order in which they have been presented on this Website.

See also the Books page for our book list.

 

Thomas Erickson & David W. McDonald: HCI Remixed – Reflections on Works That Have Influenced the HCI Community

Cover of HCI Remixed

Over almost three decades, the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) has produced a rich and varied literature. Although the focus of attention today is naturally on new work, older contributions that played a role in shaping the trajectory and character of the field have much to tell us. The contributors to HCI Remixed were asked to reflect on a single work at least ten years old that influenced their approach to HCI. The result is this collection of fifty-one short, engaging, and idiosyncratic essays, reflections on a range of works in a variety of forms that chart the emergence of a new field. Taken together, the essays offer an accessible, lively, and engaging introduction to HCI research that reflects the diversity of the field's beginnings.
(From book presentation, adapted)

Thomas Erickson & David W. McDonald (2008). HCI Remixed – Reflections on Works That Have Influenced the HCI Community. The MIT Press • ISBN-10: 0262050889, ISBN-13: 978-0262050883

See the book in the book list...

 

Derek Hansen, Ben Shneiderman & Marc Smith: Analyzing Social Media Networks with NodeXL

Cover of Analyzing Social Media Networks with NodeXL

Businesses, entrepreneurs, individuals, and government agencies alike are looking to social network analysis (SNA) tools for insight into trends, connections, and fluctuations in social media. Microsoft's NodeXL is a free, open-source SNA plug-in for use with Excel. It provides instant graphical representation of relationships of complex networked data. NodeXL was developed by a multidisciplinary team of experts that bring together information studies, computer science, sociology, human-computer interaction, and over 20 years of visual analytic theory and information visualization into a simple tool anyone can use. This makes it of interest not only to end-users but also to researchers and students studying visual and network analytics and their application in the real world. In Analyzing Social Media Networks with NodeXL, members of the NodeXL development team up provide readers with a thorough and practical guide for using the tool.
(From book presentation, adapted)

Derek Hansen, Ben Shneiderman & Marc Smith (2010). Analyzing Social Media Networks with Node XL. Morgan Kaufmann • ISBN 13: 978-0123822291

See the book in the book list...Review in preparation

 

Whitney Quesenbery & Kevin Brooks: Storytelling for User Experience

Cover of Storytelling for User Experience

Telling stories is one of the most natural ways to share information, as old as the human race. This book is not about a new technique, but how to use something we already know in a new way. Stories help us gather and communicate user research, put a human face on analytic data, communicate design ideas, encourage collaboration and innovation, and create a sense of shared history and purpose. This book looks across the full spectrum of user experience design to discover when and how to use stories to improve our products. Whether you are a researcher, designer, analyst or manager, you will find ideas and techniques you can put to use in your practice. If you need to share research and design insights in a compelling and effective way, struggle to communicate the meaning of a large body of data in a way that everyone just "gets," or want to explore a new, innovative idea, and imagine its future, this book can help you, by showing you how and when to choose, create and use stories.
(From book presentation, adapted)

Whitney Quesenbery & Kevin Brooks (2010). Storytelling for User Experience. Rosenfeld Media • ISBN: 1-933820-47-0 (Paperback + PDF), ISBN: 1-933820-03-9 (2 PDF editions)

See the book in the book list...

 

Jeff Johnson: Designing with the Mind in Mind – A Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Rules

Cover of Designing with the Mind in Mind

Early user interface (UI) practitioners were trained in cognitive psychology, from which UI design rules were based. But as the field evolves, designers enter the field from many disciplines. Practitioners today have enough experience in UI design that they have been exposed to design rules, but it is essential that they understand the psychology behind the rules in order to effectively apply them. In Designing with the Mind in Mind, Jeff Johnson, provides designers with just enough background in perceptual and cognitive psychology that UI design guidelines make intuitive sense rather than being just a list of rules to follow.
(From book presentation, adapted)

Jeff Johnson (2010). Designing with the Mind in Mind: A Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Rules. Morgan Kaufmann • ISBN-10: 1-012375030X, ISBN-13: 978-0123750303

See the book in the book list...Review in preparation

 

Nathan Shedroff: Design Is the Problem

Cover of Design is the Problem

Design makes a tremendous impact on the produced world in terms of usability, resources, understanding, and priorities. What we produce, how we serve customers and other stakeholders, and even how we understand how the world works is all affected by the design of models and solutions. Designers have an unprecedented opportunity to use their skills to make meaningful, sustainable change in the world – if they know how to focus their skills, time, and agendas. In Design is the Problem: The Future of Design Must be Sustainable, Nathan Shedroff examines how the endemic culture of design often creates unsustainable solutions, and shows how designers can bake sustainability into their design processes in order to produce more sustainable solutions.
(From book presentation, adapted)

Nathan Shedroff (2009). Design Is the Problem. Rosenfeld Media • ISBN: 1-933820-00-4 (Paperback + PDF), ISBN: 1-933820-01-2 (2 PDF editions)

See the book in the book list...Read the review

 

Clarisse Sieckenius de Souza, & Carla Faria Leitão: Presentation Zen Design – Semiotic Engineering Methods for Scientific Research in HCI

Cover of Semiotic Engineering Methods for Scientific Research in HCI

Semiotic engineering was originally proposed as a semiotic approach to designing user interface languages. Over the years, it evolved into a semiotic theory of human-computer interaction (HCI). It views HCI as computer-mediated communication between designers and users at interaction time. The system speaks for its designers in various types of conversations specified at design time. These conversations communicate the designers' understanding of who the users are, what they know the users want or need to do, in which preferred ways, and why. The designers' message to users includes even the interactive language in which users will have to communicate back with the system in order to achieve their specific goals. Hence, the process is, in fact, one of communication about communication, or metacommunication. Semiotic engineering has two methods to evaluate the quality of metacommunication in HCI: the semiotic inspection method (SIM) and the communicability evaluation method (CEM). Up to now, they have been mainly used and discussed in technical contexts. In this book, the authors discuss how SIM and CEM, which are both qualitative methods, can also be used in scientific contexts to generate new knowledge about HCI. To illustrate their points, they present an extensive case study with the free open-source digital audio editor Audacity. They show how the results obtained with a triangulation of SIM and CEM point at new research avenues not only for semiotic engineering and HCI but also for other areas of computer science such as software engineering and programming.
(From book abstract, adapted)

Clarisse Sieckenius de Souza, & Carla Faria Leitão (2009). Semiotic Engineering Methods for Scientific Research in HCI. Morgan & Claypool Publishers • ISBN: 9781598299441 (Paperback), ISBN: 9781598299458 (Online version)

See the book in the book list...

 

Garr Reynolds: Presentation Zen Design – Simple Design Principles and Techniques to Enhance Your Presentations

Cover of Presentation Zen Design

In his book Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery, Garr Reynolds gave readers the framework for planning, putting together, and delivering successful presentations. Now, he takes us further into the design realm and shows how we can apply time-honored design principles to presentation layouts. Throughout Presentation Zen Design, Garr shares his lessons on designing effective presentations that contain text, graphs, color, images, and video. After establishing guidelines for each of the various elements, he explains how to achieve an overall harmony and balance using the tenets of Zen simplicity. Not only will you discover how to design your slides for more professional-looking presentations, you'll learn to communicate more clearly and will accomplish the goal of making a stronger, more lasting connection with your audience.
(From product description, adapted)

Garr Reynolds (2009). Presentation Zen Design: Simple Design Principles and Techniques to Enhance Your Presentations. New Riders Press • ISBN: 0321668790

See the book in the book list...Review in preparation

 

Hartmut Esslinger: A Fine Line – How Design Strategies Are Shaping the Future of Business

Cover of A Fine Line

For the first time, Hartmut Esslinger, internationally acclaimed designer and founder of frog design, inc., reveals the secrets to better business through better design. Having spent forty years helping build the world's most recognizable brands, Esslinger shows how business leaders and designers can join forces to build creative strategies that will ensure a more profitable and sustainable future.

A Fine Line shares the amazing story of Esslinger's transformation from industrial design wunderkind to a global innovation powerhouse, while detailing the very real challenges facing businesses in the new global economy. Offering companies far more than a temporary innovation booster, Esslinger shows how he and frog build creative design into the framework of an organization's competitive strategy, the same approach that has worked so well for leading edge companies such as Sony, Louis Vuitton, Lufthansa, Disney, Hewlett-Packard, SAP, Microsoft, and Apple. SAP employees will find two pages in the book telling the enjoy story and a few familiar names...
(From product description, adapted)

Hartmut Esslinger (2009). A Fine Line: How Design Strategies Are Shaping the Future of Business. Jossey-Bass • ISBN: 978-0470451021 (German version: Schwungrat: Wie Design-Strategien die Zukunft der Wirtschaft gestalten. Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH • ISBN :978-3527504923)

See the book in the book list...

 

Todd Zaki Warfel: Prototyping – A Practitioner's Guide

Cover of Prototyping - A Practitioner's Guide

Prototyping is a great way to communicate the intent of a design both clearly and effectively. Prototypes help you to flesh out design ideas, test assumptions, and gather real-time feedback from users.

With this book, Todd Zaki Warfel shows how prototypes are more than just a design tool by demonstrating how they can help you market a product, gain internal buy-in, and test feasibility with your development team.
(From product description)

Todd Zaki Warfel (2009). Prototyping – A Practitioner's Guide. Rosenfeld Media • ISBN: 978-1933820217

See the book in the book list...

 

Riccardo Mazza: Introduction to Information Visualization

Cover of Introduction to Information Visualization

Information Visualization is a relatively young field that is acquiring more and more consensus in both academic and industrial environments. This concise introduction to the subject explores the use of computer-supported interactive graphical representations to explain data and amplify cognition. Written in a lively, yet rigorous, style the book explores ways of communicating ideas or facts about data, and shows how to validate hypotheses, and facilitate the discovery of new facts via exploration.

The concepts outlined in the book are illustrated in a simple and thorough manner, building a reference for those situations in which graphic representation of information, generated and assisted by the use of computer tools, can help in visualizing ideas, data and concepts. With suggestions for setting communications systems based on, or availing of, graphic representations, this textbook illustrates cases, situations, tools and methods which help make the graphic representations of information effective and efficient.
(From product description, adapted)

Riccardo Mazza (2009). Introduction to Information Visualization. Springer. ISBN: 978-1848002180

See the book in the book list...Read the review

 

Robert Schumacher: Handbook of Global User Research

Cover of Handbook of Global User Research

User research is global – yet despite its pervasiveness, practitioners are not all well equipped to work globally. What may have worked in Nigeria may not be accepted in Russia, may be done differently in Brazil, may partly work in China, and may completely fail in Kuwait. And what often goes less noticed, but can be equally vexing are technical, logistical and planning issues such as hiring qualified translators, payment procedures, travel issues, setting up facilities and finding test participants.

The Handbook of Global User Research is the first book to focus on global user research. The book collects insight from UX professionals from nine countries and, following a typical project timeline, presents practical insights into the preparation, fieldwork, analysis and reporting, and overall project management for global user research projects. Any user experience professional that works on global projects – including those new to the field, UX veterans who need information on this expanding aspect of user research, and students – will need this book to do their job effectively.
(From product description, adapted)

Robert Schumacher (2009). Handbook of Global User Research. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN: 978-0123748522

See the book in the book list...

 

Dan Saffer: Designing for Interaction

Cover of Designing for Interaction

Designing for Interaction is an introduction to the practice of interaction design, the design discipline behind such products as the iPhone and other touchscreen devices and innovative Web sites like Flickr. Aimed at new practitioners and students – as well as user experience professionals and developers – it is a comprehensive look at the discipline, from current methods to its future. This guide takes a holistic approach looking at interaction design for the Web, software, and devices. This new edition adds information on design strategy, extended research analysis, conceptual models, brainstorming, and user testing and development.

More than just a how-to manual, this is the only book on the subject coming from a design rather that computer science background. Filled with tips, real-world projects, and interviews of leading practitioners such as Marc Rettig, Brenda Laurel and Hugh Dubberly, the book promises readers to get a solid grounding in everything they need to successfully tackle interaction design.
(From book cover, adapted)

Dan Saffer (2009). Designing for Interaction (2nd Edition). New Riders Press. ISBN: 978-0321643391

See the book in the book list...

 

Graham Pullin: Design Meets Disability

Cover of Design Meets Disability

In Design Meets Disability, Graham Pullin shows us how design and disability can inspire each other. In the Eameses' work there was a healthy tension between cut-to-the-chase problem solving and more playful explorations. Pullin offers examples of how design can meet disability today. Why, he asks, shouldn't hearing aids be as fashionable as eyewear? What new forms of braille signage might proliferate if designers kept both sighted and visually impaired people in mind? Can simple designs avoid the need for complicated accessibility features? Can such emerging design methods as "experience prototyping" and "critical design" complement clinical trials?

Pullin also presents a series of interviews with leading designers about specific disability design projects, including stepstools for people with restricted growth, prosthetic legs (and whether they can be both honest and beautifully designed), and text-to-speech technology with tone of voice. When design meets disability, the diversity of complementary, even contradictory, approaches can enrich each field.
(From book cover, adapted)

Graham Pullin (2009). Design Meets Disability. The MIT Press. ISBN: 978-0262162555

See the book in the book list...Read the review

 

Hasso Plattner, Christoph Meinel & Ulrich Weinberg: Design Thinking (in German)

Cover of Design Thinking

In multidisciplinary teams astoundingly creative processes can be stimulated. But how can this be accomplished? The authors, including SAP co-founder Hasso Plattner, propose to use Design Thinking, a groundbreaking method to spur innovation. In their book of the same name, Design Thinking, they demonstrate how you can think creatively and in a user-oriented way and thus are able to create innovative, market-oriented products. The method is comprised of the following steps:

  • Understand: Analyze the problem and its environment
  • Comprehend: Observe users and define starting points for innovation
  • Visualize: Think visually in the whole team
  • Solve: Build prototypes that users can put their hands on
  • Test: Check products jointly with users

Design Thinking – the first book about the Design Thinking method – combines the craft of engineers with creativity in an impressing manner.
(From book advertisement, translated and adapted)

Hasso Plattner, Christoph Meinel & Ulrich Weinberg (2009). Design Thinking. mi-Wirtschaftsbuch. ISBN-10: 3868800131, ISBN-13: 978-3868800135

See the book in the book list...Read the review

 

Ben Shneiderman, Catherine Plaisant, Maxine Cohen & Steven Jacobs: Designing the User Interface (5th Edition)

Cover of Designing the User Interface, 5th edition

The much-anticipated fifth edition of the all-time classic textbook Designing the User Interface is a totally updated resource with extensive fresh material and references in every chapter. The opening more ambitiously positions user interfaces as the critical determinant of consumer product and professional tool success.  The authors have also been getting bolder in claiming HCI's role for successes such as cell phones, iPhones, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, etc.  Similarly in the afterword, they take on the concerns of social impact and eight enduring controversies in our field such as user control versus autonomous agents and 2D versus 3D visualizations. The authors use a full page wordle display for each chapter opening – these displays really show that each chapter is about users but each has a distinct set of terms, wonderfully rendered by Jonathan Feinberg's clever program wordle.
(From Ben Shneiderman, pers. comm., adapted)

Ben Shneiderman, Catherine Plaisant, Maxine Cohen & Steven Jacobs (2009). Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction (5th ed). Pearson Addison-Wesley. ISBN-10: 0321537351, ISBN-13: 978-0321537355 1

See the book in the book list...Book WebsiteRead the Review

 

Dana Chisnell & Jeffrey Rubin: Handbook of Usability Testing (2nd Edition)

Cover of Handbook of Usability Testing (2nd ed.)

Whether its software, a cell phone, or a refrigerator, your customer wants – no, expects – your product to be easy to use. This fully revised handbook provides clear, step-by-step guidelines to help you test your product for usability. Completely updated with current industry best practices, it can give you that all-important marketplace advantage: products that perform the way users expect. You'll learn to recognize factors that limit usability, decide where testing should occur, set up a test plan to assess goals for your products usability, and more.
(From book cover, adapted)

Dana Chisnell & Jeffrey Rubin (2008). Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests (2nd ed.). Wiley. ISBN-10: 0470185481, ISBN-13: 978-0470185483

See the book in the book list...Read the review

 

Kim Goodwin: Designing for the Digital Age

Cover of Designing for the Digital Age

Designing successful products and services in the digital age requires a multi-disciplinary team with expertise in interaction design, visual design, industrial design, and other disciplines. It also takes the ability to come up with the big ideas that make a desirable product or service, as well as the skill and perseverance to execute on the thousand small ideas that get your design into the hands of users. It requires expertise in project management, user research, and consensus-building. Designing for the Digital Age addresses all of these and more with detailed how-to information, real-life examples, and exercises. Topics include assembling a design team, planning and conducting user research, analyzing your data and turning it into personas, using scenarios to drive requirements definition and design, collaborating in design meetings, evaluating and iterating your design, and documenting finished design in a way that works for engineers and stakeholders alike.
(From book description, adapted)

Kim Goodwin (2009). Designing for the Digital Age: How to Create Human-Centered Products and Services. Wiley. ISBN-10: 0470229101, ISBN-13: 978-0470229101

See the book in the book list...

 

Gary M. Olson, Ann Zimmerman & Nathan Bos (Eds.): Scientific Collaboration on the Internet

Cover of Scientific Collaboration on the Internet

Modern science is increasingly collaborative, as signaled by rising numbers of coauthored papers, papers with international coauthors, and multi-investigator grants. Historically, scientific collaborations were carried out by scientists in the same physical location – the Manhattan Project of the 1940s, for example, involved thousands of scientists gathered on a remote plateau in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Today, information and communication technologies allow cooperation among scientists from far-flung institutions and different disciplines. Scientific Collaboration on the Internet provides both broad and in-depth views of how new technology is enabling novel kinds of science and engineering collaboration. The book offers commentary from notable experts in the field along with case studies of large-scale collaborative projects, past and ongoing.
(From book cover, adapted)

Gary M. Olson, Ann Zimmerman & Nathan Bos (Eds.) (2008). Scientific Collaboration on the Internet. The MIT Press. ISBN-10: 0262151200, ISBN-13: 978-0262151207

See the book in the book list...Read the review

 

Nevin Berger, Michael Arent, Jonathan Arnowitz & Fred Sampson: Effective Prototyping with Excel

Cover of Effective Prototyping with Excel

Although recognized as a key to the design process, prototyping often falls victim to budget cuts, deadlines, or lack of access to sophisticated tools. This can lead to sloppy and ineffective prototypes or the abandonment of them altogether. Rather than lose this important step, people are turning to Microsoft Excel? to create effective, simple, and inexpensive prototypes. Conveniently, the software is available to nearly everyone, and most are proficient in its basic functionality. Effective Prototyping with Excel offers how-to guidance on how everyone can use basic Excel skills to create prototypes – ranging from narrative wire frames to hi-fidelity prototypes. A wide array of software design problems and business demands are solved via practical step-by-step examples and illustrations.
(From book cover, adapted)

Nevin Berger, Michael Arent, Jonathan Arnowitz & Fred Sampson (2009). Effective Prototyping with Excel: A Practical Handbook for Developers and Designers (Interactive Technologies). Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN-10: 0120885824, ISBN-13: 978-0120885824

See the book in the book list...

 

Ben Fry: Visualizing Data

Cover of Visualizing DataVisualizing Data is Ben Fry's book about computational information design. It covers the path from raw data to how we understand it, detailing how to begin with a set of numbers and produce images or software that lets you view and interact with information. Unlike nearly all books in this field, it is a hands-on guide intended for people who want to learn how to actually build a data visualization.
(From Ben Fry's Website, adapted)

Ben Fry (2008). Visualizing Data. O'Reilly. ISBN-10: 0596514557, ISBN-13: 978-0596514556 (Paperback)

 

See the book in the book list...

 

Bill Buxton: Sketching User Experiences – Getting the Design Right and the Right Design

Cover of Sketching User Experiences

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.
(From amazon.com, adapted)

Bill Buxton (2008). Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN-10: 0123740371, ISBN-13: 978-0123740373

See the book in the book list...Book companion WebsiteRead the review

 

Colin Ware: Visual Thinking for Design

Cover of Visual Thinking: For Design

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.
(From book cover, adapted)

Colin Ware (2008). Visual Thinking: For Design . Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN-10: 0123708966, ISBN-13: 978-0123708960

See the book in the book list...Read the review

 

Alan Cooper, Robert M. Reimann & Dave Cronin: About Face 3.0

Cover of About Face 3.0This completely updated volume presents the effective and practical tools you need to design great desktop applications, Web 2.0 sites, and mobile devices. You'll learn the principles of good product behavior and gain an understanding of Cooper's Goal-Directed Design method, which involves everything from conducting user research to defining your product using personas and scenarios. Ultimately, you'll acquire the knowledge to design the best possible digital products and services.
(From book cover, adapted)

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...

 

Rich Gold: The Plenitude – Creativity, Innovation, and Making Stuff

Cover of The Plenitude

According to John Seeley Brown, this small book "is a gem that will shape your way of seeing and thinking about the world forever." Rich, who died in 2003, was, as Brown puts it, "one of the true visionaries of Xerox PARC and this unique book, in both its form and content, provides a window into a brilliant and incredibly imaginative mind at work." Gold writes his book from the seemingly contradictory perspectives of an artist, scientist, designer, and engineer – all professions pursued by him, sometimes simultaneously, in the course of his career – and illustrates it with witty cartoons.
(From book cover, adapted)

Gold, Rich (2007). The Plenitude: Creativity, Innovation, and Making Stuff. The MIT Press. ISBN-10: 0262072890, ISBN-13: 978-0262072892

See the book in the book list...Read the review

 

Harold Thimbleby: Press On – Principles of Interaction Programming

Cover of Press On

Interactive systems and devices, from mobile phones to office copiers, do not fulfill their potential for a wide variety of reasons – not all of them technical. In his book, Thimbleby shows that we can design better interactive systems and devices if we draw on sound computer science principles. While sound programming concepts improve device design, Press On also provides the insights, concepts, and programming tools to improve usability.
(From book cover, adapted)

Harold Thimbleby (2007). Press On: Principles of Interaction Programming.The MIT Press. ISBN-10: 0262201704, ISBN-13: 978-0262201704

See the book in the book list...Read the review

 

Casey Reas & Ben Fry: Processing – A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists

Cover of Processing

This book is an introduction to the concepts of computer programming within the context of visual arts. It offers a comprehensive reference and text for Processing (www.processing.org), an open source programming language that can be used by students, artists, designers, architects, researchers, and anyone to wants to program images, animation, and interactivity. Tutorial units make the bulk of the book.
(From book cover, adapted)

Casey Reas & Ben Fry (2007). Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists. The MIT Press. ISBN-10: 0262182629, ISBN-13: 978-0262182621

See the book in the book list...Processing WebsiteRead the review

 

Jeff Johnson: GUI Bloopers 2.0 – Common User Interface Design Don'ts and Dos

Cover of GUI Bloopers 2.0

A major revision of a classic reference, GUI Bloopers 2.0 looks at user interface design bloopers from commercial software, Websites, Web applications, and information appliances, explaining how intelligent, well-intentioned professionals make these mistakes – and how you can avoid them. While equipping you with the minimum of theory, author Jeff Johnson presents the reality of interface design in an entertaining, anecdotal, and instructive way.
(From amazon.com, adapted)

Jeff Johnson (2007). GUI Bloopers 2.0: Common User Interface Design Don'ts and Dos. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN: 0123706432

See the book in the book list...Book companion WebsiteRead the review

 

Petra Abele, Jörn Hurtienne, & Jochen Prümper: Usability Management bei SAP-Projekten. Grundlagen – Vorgehen – Methoden (in German)

Cover of Usability Management bei SAP-Projekten

Until now, no dedicated procedure for the usability management of SAP projects was available, neither for consultants nor for decision makers. Nevertheless, enterprises take topics, such as user productivity, total cost of ownership of an SAP system, as well as occupational health and safety, seriously. Therefore, in the course of a perennial project, a procedural model and a qualification program for SAP consultants and company decision makers were developed, which cover the practice of usability management of SAP projects. In the book, you will find ways to enhance system productivity by letting users participate in the system design, and to react to user requirements in a professional manner. (The book includes a chapter written by SAP User Experience colleagues Ulrich Kreichgauer and Gerd Waloszek.)
(From publisher's site, translated and adapted)

Petra Abele, Jörn Hurtienne, & Jochen Prümper (2007). Usability Management bei SAP-Projekten. Grundlagen – Vorgehen – Methoden. Vieweg. ISBN: 383480244

See the book in the book list...Read the review

 

Robert Spence: Information Visualization (2nd Edition)

Cover of Information Visualization (2nd edition)

This is a fully revised textbook on the rapidly growing field of information visualization. Its emphasis is on real-world examples and applications of computer-generated and interactive visualization. Information visualization deals with representing concepts and data in a meaningful way. Depending on the medium used, information can be visualized in either static (e.g. a graph on a printed page) or dynamic forms. This book is appropriate for courses in information visualization, human-computer interaction, interaction design, and computer graphics.
(From amazon.com, adapted)

Robert Spence (2007). Information Visualization (2nd Edition). Prentice-Hall (Pearson). ISBN: 0132065509

See the book in the book list...Book companion WebsiteRead the review

 

Stephen Few: Information Dashboard Design

Cover of Information Dashboard Design

Dashboards have become popular in recent years as uniquely powerful tools for communicating important information at a glance. Although dashboards are potentially powerful, this potential is rarely realized. The greatest display technology in the world won't solve this if you fail to use effective visual design. And if a dashboard fails to tell you precisely what you need to know in an instant, you'll never use it, even if it's filled with cute gauges, meters, and traffic lights. This book will teach you the visual design skills you need to create dashboards that communicate clearly, rapidly, and compellingly.
(From book cover, adapted)

Stephen Few (2006). Information Dashboard Design. O'Reilly. ISBN: 0596100167

See the book in the book list...Read the review

 

Jonathan Lazar (Ed.): Universal Usability

Cover of Universal Usability

Universal Usability describes the goal of designing computer interfaces that are easy for all to use. It is a concept which many decry as elusive, impossible or impractical, but this book, which addresses usability issues for a number of diverse user groups, proves that there is no challenge in interface design that cannot be addressed. The book examines innovative and groundbreaking research and practice, and provides a practical overview of a number of successful projects which have addressed a need for specific user populations.
(From book cover, adapted)

Jonathan Lazar (2007). Universal Usability. Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 0470027274

See the book in the book list...Read the review

 

Sarah Horton: Access by Design – A Guide to Universal Usability for Web Designers

Cover of Access by Design

In Access by Design: A Guide to Universal Usability for Web Designers, Sarah Horton describes a design methodology  that addresses accessibility requirements but then goes beyond. As a result, designers learn how to optimize page designs to work more effectively for more users, disabled or not. Working through each of the main functional features of Web sites, she provides clear principles for using HTML and CSS to deal with elements such as text, forms, images, and tables, illustrating each with an example drawn from the real world. Through these guidelines, Sarah makes a convincing case that good design principles benefit all users of the Web.
(From book description, adapted)

Sarah Horton (2005). Access by Design. New Riders Press. ISBN: 032131140X

See the book in the book list...Book companion WebsiteRead the review

 

Josef Köble: Developing Accessible Applications with SAP NetWeaver (Entwicklung barrierefreier Software mit SAP NetWeaver)

Cover of Entwicklung barrierefreier Software mit SAP NetWeaver

This book, put together by SAP User Experience colleagues, is a complete reference for developing accessible software applications with SAP NetWeaver. It describes the requirements for accessible business software and explains the concepts and development based on tools, such as the ABAP Workbench and NW Developer Studio. The authors cover the development with classical Dynpros as well as with Web Dynpro (ABAP und Java) and with SAP Interactive Forms by Adobe. In addition, the book explains how applications can be tested and describes their configuration on the frontend as well as the backend side. All in all, readers obtain a complete overview of all existing controls and their usage. QA-Managers also get valuable hints on how the developed applications can be tested for accessible functionality.
(From Website, translated and adapted)

Josef Köble (2007). Developing Accessible Applications with SAP NetWeaver. Galileo Press. ISBN: 1592291120, ISBN: 978-1592292424 (e-book)
German Version: Josef Köble (2007). Entwicklung barrierefreier Software mit SAP NetWeaver. Galileo Press. ISBN: 3898428621

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Jonathan Arnowitz, Michael Arent, & Nevin Berger: Effective Prototyping for Software Makers

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SAP UX colleagues Jonathan Arnowitz and Michael Arent, together with Nevin Berger from Ziff Davis Media, published Effective Prototyping for Software Makers, a book that will help software makers, developers, designers, and architects build effective prototypes every time: prototypes that convey enough information about the product at the appropriate time and thus set expectations appropriately. According to the authors, this practical, informative book will help anyone, whether or not one has artistic talent, access to special tools, or programming ability to use good prototyping style, methods, and tools to build prototypes and manage for effective prototyping.
(From book cover, adapted)

Jonathan Arnowitz, Michael Arent, & Nevin Berger (2007). Effective Prototyping for Software Makers. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN: 978-0120885688

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Bill Moggridge: Designing Interactions

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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, designer Bill Moggridge introduces us to more than forty influential designers who have shaped our interaction with technology.
(From book cover, adapted)

Bill Moggridge (2006). Designing Interactions. MIT Press. ISBN: 978-0262134743

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George Stiny: Shape – Talking about Seeing and Doing

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In Shape, George Stiny argues that seeing shapes – with all their changeability and ambiguity – is an inexhaustible source of creative ideas. Understanding shapes, he says, is a useful way to understand what is possible in design. Shapes are devices for visual expression just as symbols are devices for verbal expression. Stiny develops a unified scheme that includes both visual expression with shapes and verbal expression with signs. Design uses shapes while business, engineering, law, mathematics, and philosophy turn mainly to symbols. Designing, Stiny argues, is calculating with shapes, calculating without equations and numbers but still according to rules. Stiny takes the idea of design as calculation from mere heuristic or metaphor to a rigorous relationship in which design and calculation each inform and enhance the other.
(From book cover, adapted)

George Stiny (2006). Shape – Talking about Seeing and Doing. MIT Press. ISBN: 0262195313

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Paul A. Fishwick (Ed.): Aesthetic Computing

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In Aesthetic Computing, key scholars and practitioners from art, design, computer science, and mathematics lay the foundations for a discipline that applies the theory and practice of art to computing. Aesthetic computing explores the way art and aesthetics can play a role in different areas of computer science. One of its goals is to modify computer science by the application of the wide range of definitions and categories normally associated with making art. For example, structures in computing might be represented using the style of Gaudi or the Bauhaus school. The contributors to this book discuss the broader spectrum of aesthetics – from abstract qualities of symmetry and form to ideas of creative expression and pleasure – in the context of computer science. The assumption behind aesthetic computing is that the field of computing will be enriched if it embraces all of aesthetics. Human-computer interaction will benefit – "usability," for example, could refer to improving a user's emotional state – and new models of learning will emerge.
(From book cover, adapted)

Paul A. Fishwick (Ed.) (2006). Aesthetic Computing. The MIT Press. ISBN: 026206250

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John Maeda: The Laws of Simplicity

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Finally, we are learning that simplicity equals sanity. In The Laws of Simplicity, John Maeda offers ten laws for balancing simplicity and complexity in business, technology, and design – guidelines for needing less and actually getting more.
(From book cover, adapted)

John Maeda (2006). The Laws of Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life. The MIT Press. ISBN: 0262134721

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Cyrus D. Khazaeli: Systemisches Design

Cover of Systemisches Design

Instead of restricting the user to certain navigation paths, designers more and more think in terms of band widths, within which modular design elements may recombine over and over in new ways. For being able to do so, they need to be compatible, and rules are needed that govern how they can be combined. This way, static design evolves into systemic design, which allows to keep application functions and information contexts transparent.
(From book page, adapted and translated)

Cyrus D. Khazaeli (2005). Systemisches Design. Rowohlt. ISBN: 3499600781 (in German)

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Dave Shea & Molly E. Holzschlag: The Zen of CSS Design

Cover of The Zen of CSS Design

Proving once and for all that standards-compliant design does not equal dull design, this inspiring tome uses examples from the landmark CSS Zen Garden site as the foundation for discussions on how to create beautiful, progressive CSS-based Web sites. By using the Zen Garden sites as examples of how CSS design techniques and approaches can be applied to specific Web challenges, authors Dave Shea and Molly Holzschlag provide an eye-opening look at the range of design methods made possible by CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
(From book cover, adapted)

Dave Shea & Molly E. Holzschlag (2005). The Zen of CSS Design: Visual Enlightenment for the Web (Voices That Matter). Addison Wesley. ISBN: 0321303474

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Anthony Dunne: Hertzian Tales – Electronic Products, Aesthetic Experience, and Critical Design

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The cultural speculations and conceptual design proposals in Anthony Dunne's book Hertzian Tales are not utopian visions or blueprints; instead, they embody a critique of present-day practices, "mixing criticism with optimism". Very little has changed in the world of design since Hertzian Tales was first published by the Royal College of Art in 1999, writes Dunne in his preface to this MIT Press edition: "Design is not engaging with the social, cultural, and ethical implications of the technologies it makes so sexy and consumable." His project and proposals challenge it to do so.
(From book cover, adapted)

Anthony Dunne (2005). Hertzian Tales: Electronic Products, Aesthetic Experience, and Critical Design. MIT Press. ISBN: 0262042320

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Jörg Beringer & Karen Holtzblatt: Designing Composite Applications

Cover of Designing Composite Applications

Beringer & Holtzblatt's book Designing Composite Applications helps developers hit the ground running by providing a highly detailed and comprehensive introduction to modern application design, using the SAP Enterprise Services Architecture (ESA) toolset and the methodology of Contextual Design. Readers will benefit immediately from exclusive insights on design processes based on SAPs Business Process Platform and learn valuable tricks and techniques that can drastically improve user productivity.
(From amazon.com, adapted)

Jörg Beringer & Karen Holtzblatt (2006). Designing Composite Applications. Galileo Press (SAP PRESS). ISBN: 159229-0655

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Debbie Stone, Caroline Jarrett, Mark Woodroffe, & Shailey Minocha: User Interface Design and Evaluation

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Based on a course from the Open University, UK which has been taught to over a thousand professionals and students, the book User Interface Design and Evaluation presents an overview of the field. It illustrates the benefits of a user-centered approach to the design of software, computer systems, and Websites, and provides a clear and practical discussion of requirements gathering; developing interaction design from user requirements; and user interface evaluation.
(From amazon.com, adapted)

Debbie Stone, Caroline Jarrett, Mark Woodroffe, & Shailey Minocha (2005). User Interface Design and Evaluation. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN: 0120884364

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Bruce Sterling: Shaping Things

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"This book (Shaping Things) is about created objects and the environment, which is to say, it's about everything," starts Bruce Sterling his book and adds, "Seen from sufficient distance, this is a small topic."

The vision of Shaping Things is given material form by the intricate design of Lorraine Wild. Shaping Things is for designers and thinkers, engineers and scientists, entrepreneurs and financiers – and anyone who wants to understand and be part of the process of technosocial transformation.
(From book description, adapted)

Bruce Sterling (2005). Shaping Things. MIT Press. ISBN: 0262693267 or 026219533X

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Jenifer Tidwell: Designing Interfaces

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Designing Interfaces captures best practices that UI designers have refined over the years as design patterns – solutions to common design problems, tailored to the situation at hand. Each pattern contains practical advice that readers can put to use immediately, plus a variety of examples illustrated in full color. Readers will 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 readers a deeper understanding of why the patterns work, and how to apply them with more insight.
(From book description, adapted)

Jenifer Tidwell (2005). Designing Interfaces. O'Reilly Media. ISBN: 0596008031

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Alistair Cockburn: Writing Effective Use Cases

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In Writing Effective Use Cases, object technology expert Alistair Cockburn presents an up-to-date, practical guide to use case writing. The author borrows from his extensive experience in this realm, and expands on the classic treatments of use cases to provide software developers with a "nuts-and-bolts" tutorial for writing use cases. The book thoroughly covers introductory, intermediate, and advanced concepts, and is therefore appropriate for all knowledge levels. Illustrative examples of both good and bad uses cases as well as helpful learning exercises round out the book.
(From book cover, adapted)

Alistair Cockburn (2001). Writing Effective Use Cases. Addison-Wesley. ISBN: 0201702258

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Tom Kelley & Jonathan Littman: The Ten Faces of Innovation

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The role of the devil's advocate is nearly universal in business today. It allows individuals to step outside themselves and raise questions and concerns that effectively kill new projects and ideas, while claiming no personal responsibility. Nothing is more potent in stifling innovation as Tom Kelley points out in The Ten Faces of Innovation.

Over the years, Kelley has observed a number of roles that people can play in an organization to foster innovation and new ideas while offering an effective counter to naysayers. Among these approaches are the Anthropologist, the person who goes into the field to see how customers use and respond to products, to come up with new innovations; the Cross-Pollinator, who mixes and matches ideas, widely disparate people, and technologies to create new ideas that can drive growth; and the Hurdler, who instantly looks for ways to overcome the limits and challenges to any situation.
(From book description, adapted)

Tom Kelley & Jonathan Littmann (2005). The Ten Faces of Innovation. Currency. ISBN: 0385512074

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Clifford Nass & Scott Brave: Wired for Speech – How Voice Activates and Advances the Human-Computer Relationship

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Interfaces that talk and listen are populating computers, cars, call centers, and even home appliances and toys, but voice interfaces invariably frustrate rather than help. In Wired for Speech, Clifford Nass and Scott Brave reveal how interactive voice technologies can readily and effectively tap into the automatic responses all speech - whether from human or machine evokes. Wired for Speech demonstrates that people are "voice-activated": we respond to voice technologies as we respond to actual people and behave as we would in any social situation. By leveraging this powerful finding, voice interfaces can truly emerge as the next frontier for efficient, user-friendly technology.
(From book description, adapted)

Clifford Nass & Scott Brave (2005). Wired for Speech: How Voice Activates and Advances the Human-Computer Relationship. The MIT Press. ISBN: 0262140926

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Daniel H. Pink: A Whole New Mind – Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age

Cover of A Whole New Mind

In the tradition of Emotional Intelligence and Now, Discover Your Strengths, Daniel H. Pink offers a fresh look at what it takes to excel. A Whole New Mind reveals the six essential aptitudes on which professional success and personal fulfillment now depend, and includes a series of hands-on exercises culled from experts around the world to help readers sharpen the necessary abilities. This book is directed to everyone who wants to stay ahead of the next wave.
(From book cover, adapted)

Daniel H. Pink (2005). A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. Riverhead. ISBN: 1573223085

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Catherine Courage & Kathy Baxter: Understanding Your Users – A Practical Guide to User Requirements Methods, Tools, and Techniques

Cover of Understanding Your Users

Today many companies are employing a user-centered design (UCD) process, but for most companies, usability begins and ends with the usability test. Although usability testing is a critical part of an effective user-centered life cycle, it is only one component of the UCD process. This book is focused on the requirements gathering stage, which often receives less attention than usability testing, but is equally as important. Understanding user requirements is critical to the development of a successful product.
(From book cover)

Catherine Courage & Kathy Baxter (2004). Understanding Your Users – A Practical Guide to User Requirements Methods, Tools, and Techniques. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN: 1558609350

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John Thackara: In the Bubble – Designing in a Complex World

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We're filling up the world with technology and devices, but we've lost sight of an important question: What is this stuff for? What value does it add to our lives? So asks author John Thackara in his new book, In the Bubble: Designing for a Complex World.
(From book cover)

John Thackara (2005). In the Bubble – Designing in a Complex World. The MIT Press. ISBN: 0262201577

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Clarisse Sieckenius de Souza: The Semiotic Engineering of Human-Computer Interaction

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In The Semiotic Engineering of Human-Computer Interaction, Clarisse Sieckenius de Souza proposes an account of HCI that draws on concepts from semiotics and computer science to investigate the relationship between user and designer. Semiotics is the study of signs, and the essence of semiotic engineering is the communication between designers and users at interaction time; designers must somehow be present in the interface to tell users how to use the signs that make up a system or program. This approach, which builds on – but goes further than – the currently dominant user-centered approach, allows designers to communicate their overall vision and therefore helps users understand designs – rather than simply which icon to click.
(From book cover)

Clarisse Sieckenius de Souza (2005). The Semiotic Engineering of Human-Computer Interaction. The MIT Press. ISBN: 0262042207

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Jonas Löwgren & Erik Stolterman: Thoughtful Interaction Design

Cover of Throughtful Interation Design

The authors of Thoughtful Interaction Design go beyond the usual technical concerns of usability and usefulness to consider interaction design from a design perspective. The shaping of digital artifacts is a design process that influences the form and functions of workplaces, schools, communication, and culture; the successful interaction designer must use both ethical and aesthetic judgment to create designs that are appropriate to a given environment. This book is not a how-to manual, but a collection of tools for thought about interaction design.
(From product description)

Jonas Löwgren & Erik Stolterman (2004). Thoughtful Interaction Design. The MIT Press. ISBN: 0262122715

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Karen Holtzblatt, Jessamy Burns Wendell, & Shelley Wood: Rapid Contextual Design

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This handbook introduces Rapid CD, a fast-paced, adaptive form of Contextual Design. Rapid CD is a hands-on guide for anyone who needs practical guidance on how to use the Contextual Design process and adapt it to tactical projects with tight timelines and resources.
Rapid Contextual Design provides detailed suggestions on structuring the project and customer interviews, conducting interviews, and running interpretation sessions. The handbook walks you step-by-step through organizing the data so you can see your key issues, along with visioning new solutions, storyboarding to work out the details, and paper prototype interviewing to iterate the designall with as little as a two-person team with only a few weeks to spare!
(From product description)

Karen Holtzblatt, Jessamy Burns Wendell, & Shelley Wood (2004). Rapid Contextual Design. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN: 0123540518

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Keld Bødker, Finn Kensing, & Jesper Simonsen: Participatory IT Design

Cover of Participatory IT Design

The goal of participatory IT design is to set sensible, general, and workable guidelines for the introduction of new information technology systems into an organization. Reflecting the latest systems-development research, this book encourages a business-oriented and socially sensitive approach that takes into consideration the specific organizational context as well as first-hand knowledge of users' work practices and allows all stakeholders – users, management, and staff – to participate in the process. Participatory IT Design is a guide to the theory and practice of this process that can be used as a reference work by IT professionals and as a textbook for classes in information technology at introductory through advanced levels.
(From back cover)

Keld Bødker, Finn Kensing, & Jesper Simonsen (2004). Participatory IT Design. The MIT Press. ISBN: 026202568X

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John McCarthy, & Peter Wright: Technology as Experience

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In Technology as Experience, John McCarthy and Peter Wright argue that any account of what is often called the user experience must take into consideration the emotional, intellectual, and sensual aspects of our interactions with technology. We don't just use technology, they point out; we live with it. They offer a new approach to understanding human-computer interaction through examining the felt experience of technology. Drawing on the pragmatism of such philosophers as John Dewey and Mikhail Bakhtin, they provide a framework for a clearer analysis of technology as experience. The authors illustrate their theoretical framework with real-world examples that range from online shopping to ambulance dispatch.
(From back cover, adapted)

John McCarthy, & Peter Wright (2004). Technology as Experience. The MIT Press. ISBN: 0262134470

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Susan Fowler & Victor Stanwick: Web Application Design Handbook – Best Practices for Web-Based Software

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The Web Application Design Handbook: Best Practices for Web-Based Software was written for teams who are trying to write new web-based applications or port existing applications to the Internet. “Writing for the web” is hardly a straightforward issue, not just because a good collection of development tools isn’t yet available, but also because it means at least three different things:

  • Putting a complete, working application on a web page.
  • Displaying only the results of a process that is actually running on a network server elsewhere.
  • Automatically updating a desktop application by downloading code over the Internet.
The Web Application Design Handbook addresses all three definitions, but it also shows how being on the web can add magic to an application.
(From the preface of the book, adapted)

Susan Fowler & Victor Stanwick (2004). Web Application Design Handbook: Best Practices for Web-Based Software. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN: 1558607528

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Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, William M. Snyder, & Richard MacDermott: Cultivating Communities of Practice

Cover of Cultivating Communities of Practice

Building on the 1998 book Communities of Practice by Wenger that framed the theory for an academic audience, Cultivating Communities of Practice targets practitioners with pragmatic advice based on the accumulating track records of firms such as the World Bank, Shell Oil, and McKinsey & Company. Starting with a detailed explanation of what these groups really are and why they can prove so useful in managing knowledge within an organization, the authors discuss development from initial design through subsequent evolution. They also address the potential "dark side" – arrogance, cliquishness, rigidity, and fragmentation among participants, for example – as well as measurement issues and the challenges inherent in initiating these groups company-wide.
(Howard Rothman on Amazon.com, adapted)

Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, William M. Snyder, & Richard MacDermott (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice. Harvard Business School Press. ISBN: 1578513308

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Malcolm McCullouch: Digital Ground – Architecture, Pervasive Computing, and Environmental Knowing

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Digital Ground is an architect's response to the design challenge posed by pervasive computing. One century into the electronic age, people have become accustomed to interacting indirectly, mediated through networks. But now as digital technology becomes invisibly embedded in everyday things, even more activities become mediated, and networks extend rather than replace architecture. The young field of interaction design reflects not only how people deal with machine interfaces but also how people deal with each other in situations where interactivity has become ambient. It shifts previously utilitarian digital design concerns to a cultural level, adding notions of premise, appropriateness, and appreciation. Malcolm McCullough offers an account of the intersections of architecture and interaction design, arguing that the ubiquitous technology does not obviate the human need for place.
(From book description, adapted)

Malcolm McCullough (2004). Digital Ground: Architecture, Pervasive Computing, and Environmental Knowing. MIT Press. ISBN: 0262134357

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Donald A. Norman: Emotional Design – Why We Love (Or Hate) Everyday Things

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Written by Don Norman, the author of The Design of Everyday Things, this is the first book to make the connection between our emotions and how we relate to ordinary objects – from juicers to Jaguars. In recent years, the design community has focused on making products easier to use. But as Norman amply demonstrates in his book, design experts have vastly underestimated the role of emotion on our experience of everyday objects. Emotional Design analyzes the profound influence of this deceptively simple idea, from our willingness to spend thousands of dollars on Gucci bags and Rolex watches to the impact of emotion on the everyday objects of tomorrow.
(From book description, adapted)

Donald A. Norman (2003). Emotional Design: Why We Love (Or Hate) Everyday Things. Basic Books. ISBN: 0465051359

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Brenda Laurel (Ed.): Design Research – Methods and Perspectives

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The tools of design research, writes Brenda Laurel, will allow designers "to claim and direct the power of their profession." The goal of the book is to introduce designers to the many research tools that can be used to inform design as well as to ideas about how and when to deploy them effectively. Often neglected in the various curricula of design schools, the new models of design research described in this book help designers to investigate people, form, and process in ways that can make their work more potent and more delightful.
(From book cover, adapted)

Brenda Laurel (Ed.) (2003). Design Research: Methods and Perspectives. MIT Press. ISBN: 0262122634

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Jay David Bolter & Diane Gromala: Windows and Mirrors – Interaction Design, Digital Art, and the Myth of Transparency

Cover of Windows and Mirrors
In Windows and Mirrors: Interaction Design, Digital Art, and the Myth of Transparency, the authors argue that, contrary to Donald Norman's famous dictum, we do not always want our computers to be invisible "information appliances." They say that a computer does not feel like a toaster or a vacuum cleaner; it feels like a medium that is now taking its place beside other media like printing, film, radio, and television. The computer as medium creates new forms and genres for artists and designers; the authors want to show what digital art has to offer to Web designers, education technologists, graphic artists, interface designers, HCI experts, and, for that matter, anyone interested in the cultural implications of the digital revolution.
(From book description, adapted)

Jay David Bolter & Diane Gromala (2003). Windows and Mirrors : Interaction Design, Digital Art, and the Myth of Transparency . MIT Press. ISBN: 0262025450

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JoAnn Hackos: Content Management for Dynamic Web Delivery

Cover of Content Management for Dynamic Web Delivery
JoAnn Hackos' latest book is written for information-development managers who want to move their departments into the 21st century. It discusses establishing a content strategy to determine what content your users need, in which media it should be delivered, and what types of content should be singled out for sales and marketing, customer support, training, and reference.
(From book info, adapted)

JoAnn Hackos (2002). Content Management for Dynamic Web Delivery. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 0471085863

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Louis Rosenfeld & Peter Morville: Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, Second Edition

Cover of Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, Second Edition, shows how to use both aesthetics and mechanics to create distinctive, cohesive Websites that work. Most books on Web development concentrate either on the graphics or on the technical issues of a site. This book focuses on the framework that holds the two together.
(From back cover)

Louis Rosenfeld & Peter Morville (2002). Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, Second Edition. O'Reilly. ISBN: 0596000359

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Douglas K. van Duyne, James A. Landay, & Jason I. Hong: The Design of Sites: Patterns, Principles, and Processes for Crafting a Customer-Centered Web Experience

Cover of The Design of Sites

Based on extensive investigation and analysis of more than 100 of the highest-quality Web sites, this book distills the principles and best practices that make sites enjoyable to visit and a huge asset to the organizations they serve. This comprehensive resource features numerous design patterns that offer proven solutions to common Web design problems. These patterns are appropriate to a wide variety of site genres and address every aspect of Web site design, from navigation and content management to e-commerce and site performance. In addition to enhancing the usefulness and quality of your site, the patterns outlined in The Design of Sites will also shorten development cycles and reduce maintenance costs.
(From back cover)

Douglas K. van Duyne, James A. Landay, & Jason I. Hong (2002). The Design of Sites: Patterns, Principles, and Processes for Crafting a Customer-Centered Web Experience. Addison-Wesley. ISBN: 020172149X.

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Clemens Lango: Visuos

Cover of Visuos

visuos is the concept of an operating software for knowledge work. It covers various forms of access to knowledge spaces, including knowledge management, information retrieval, research and refinement, monitoring of knowledge resources, and automation and scheduling of tasks.

The book gives detailed insight into the challenges of knowledgework and hypermedia systems, the status quo of information visualization and interaction concepts and is a detailed documentation of the visuos concept – from conceptual to detail level.
(From the author's Website, adapted)

Clemens Lango (2003). Visuos. Synchron Wissenschaftsverlag der Autoren. ISBN: 3935025467. (not contained in book list)

 

Ian Graham: A Pattern Language for Web Usability

Cover of  A Pattern Language for Web UsabilityDuring the second half of the 1990s software developers were influenced hugely by the work of architectural theorists of the built environment, notably Christopher Alexander and his colleagues. Alexander’s idea of a pattern language for planning, designing and constructing towns and buildings was, among others, taken as the inspiration for catalogs of software design patterns. Recently, some software engineers have gone back to Alexander’s work and realized that pattern catalogs miss the essence of the idea: that the "words" in a language can be combined using its grammar to produce beautiful, useful works.

Current books on Web design are not organized in such a way that they can be accessed quickly as a reference guide to good practice. In addition, many of the principles of good user interface design are only present implicitly in these books. Therefore, this book provides a standard reference pattern language that can be a useful reference and a source of learning on how to design great sites.

There are four aspects of Website design: usability, content, navigation, and aesthetics. The last three all contribute in some way to the first. Therefore the language must address all four issues. The Web usability pattern language presented in this work attempts to meet these requirements.
(From the foreword, adapted)

Ian Graham (2003). A Pattern Language for Web Usability. Addison Wesley. ISBN: 0201788888.

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Ben Schneiderman & Catherine Plaisant: Designing the User Interface (4th Edition)

Cover of Designing the User InterfaceBen Shneiderman's Designing the User Interface is a classic and comprehensive textbook on user interface design that has set standards for many years. For the fourth edition, Shneiderman is joined by Catherine Plaisant from the University of Maryland, his colleague of 15 years. The new edition offers new and revised content on Web interfaces, mobile devices, universal usability, and other current trends. A section on new ideas in HCI covers both technological and ethical issues.

Ben Shneiderman & Catherine Plaisant (2003). Designing the User Interface (4th Edition). Pearson Addison-Wesley. ISBN: 0321200586 (Hardcover)

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Mike Kuniavsky: Observing the User Experience

Cover of Observing the User ExperienceMike Kuniavsky wrote his book Observing the User Experience because he wants to help user interface designers, developers, and all other people that are engaged in software design "bridge the gap between what they think they know about their users and who they really are." The author sees his book as "a toolbox of techniques that help designers and developers see through the eyes of their users." Part II of the book covers about a dozen different user experience research techniques, such as task analysis, focus groups, usability tests, surveys, log files, and many more. The book concludes with tips on how to communicate the results, and how to create a user-centered corporate culture.

Mike Kuniavsky (2003). Observing the User Experience. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN 1558609237

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Dan Woods: Packaged Composite Applications

Cover of Packaged Composite ApplicationsDan Woods' book introduces a new breed of software applications, so-called Packaged Composite Applications (PCAs, or xApps in SAP jargon), which offers a new architectural paradigm for integrating and "cutting across the borders" of classical enterprise applications. Although this is not a usability or graphic design book, we present it here because packaged composite applications provide new challenges to user interface designers.

Dan Woods (2003). Packaged Composite Applications. O'Reilly & Associates. ISBN 0596005520. (Not contained in book list)

 

Alan Cooper & Robert M. Reimann: About Face 2.0

Cover of About Face 2.0Eight years after publishing the first version of About Face, Alan Cooper, now together with Robert Reimann, presents an update of his best-selling book on user interface design. According to the authors, they rewrote and reorganized every page to accomodate the recent changes, such as the Web and the new emphasis on visual design. In addition, their new book presents more of Cooper's design solutions as well as details on Cooper's goal-directed design methodology, including personas, goals, and scenarios.

Alan Cooper & Robert M. Reimann (2003). About Face 2.0: The Essentials of Design. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 0764526413 (Paperback)

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Benjamin B. Bederson & Ben Shneiderman: The Craft of Information Visualization – Readings and Reflections

Cover of The Craft of Information Visualization

Information visualization is a rapidly growing field that is emerging from research in human-computer interaction, computer science, graphics, visual design, psychology, and business methods.

The book The Craft of Information Visualization: Readings and Reflections, edited by Ben Bederson and Ben Shneiderman, collects nearly 40 of the key papers on information visualization from the University of Maryland's Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL), which is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2003.

Benjamin B. Bederson & Ben Shneiderman (2003). The Craft of Information Visualization – Readings and Reflections. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN: 1558609156 (Paperback)

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Carolyn Snyder: Paper Prototyping

Cover of Paper Prototyping

Carolyn Snyder, now an independent usability consultant at Snyder Consulting, was introduced to the method of paper protoyping at Jared Spool's company User Interface Engineering. In her new book Paper Prototyping she compiled all her experience with this approach and shows how paper prototypes can be used as an (cost-)effective tool in the user-centered design process of software applications.

Carolyn Snyder (2003). Paper Prototyping. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN: 1558608702 (Paperback)

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Ben Shneiderman: Leonardo's Laptop – Human Needs and the New Computing Technologies

Cover of Leonardo's LaptopIn his new book, Ben Shneiderman raises computer users' expectations of what they should get from technology and shifts the focus from what computers can do to what users can do. Using Leonardo da Vinci as inspirational character, Shneiderman explores the computer's potential to support creativity, consensus-seeking, and conflict resolution.

Ben Shneiderman (2002). Leonardo's Laptop – Human Needs and the New Computing Technologies. The MIT Press. ISBN: 0262194767 (Hardcover)
Ben Shneiderman (2003). Leonardo's Laptop – Human Needs and the New Computing Technologies. The MIT Press. ISBN: ISBN: 0262692996 (Paperback)

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Jeff Johnson: Web Bloopers

Cover of Web BloopersJeff Johnson has become known to a wider audience through his book GUI Bloopers, in which he describes common user interface design sins. His new book Web Bloopers continues on this track and offers a list of 60 common Web design mistakes. The author not only illustrates the mistakes through examples – thankfully, the SAP Design Guild has not been on his radar screen – but also gives advice on how to avoid them. We must admit that we added a statement to the SAP Design Guild home page telling what this site is about (Web blooper 1: home page crisis) after taking a first look at his book....

Jeff Johnson (2003). Web Bloopers. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN: 1558608400 (Paperback)

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