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Title: The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems by Jef Raskin ISBN: 0-201-37937-6 Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional Pub. Date: 29 March, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (45 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Fascinating, wonderful book -- A MUST READ
Comment: The book opens with a brief look at cognetics. Studying how the mind works, such as matters of attention and habituation, clarifies why many popular designs are often so COUNTERintuitive. Once you have that background, Raskin starts defining terms. Then, he provides formulas for analyzing interface efficiency. As valuable as usability testing can be, it's nice to add some objective measurements to the toolbox.
The last half of the book looks at some popular current practices in software, and points out ways they violate the principles expressed in the first half. Some of his ideas are quite radical, but definitely thought-provoking. I wonder if anyone in the Open Source community would be interested in taking a crack at developing a new system based on these proposals.
Raskin designed the Apple Macintosh and CanonCat systems, both of which are used as frequent examples. An appendix on why the Mac chose the one-button mouse is a must read for any Mac partisan (pro or con). Because the CanonCat is so obscure, I do wish he provided more information (especially pictures) on how it actually looked and worked. But that's a minor quibble.
As someone new to the profession of UI Design, this book has proven invaluable. I'm already using his terminology to explain issues to developers. And I'm still ruminating over some of the other proposals in the last half of the book.
If you've read last year's popular book "The Inmates Are Running The Asylum" by Cooper, you understand the problem exists. This is a good follow-up to start you on the road to fixing it.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent, but doesn't give practical advice
Comment: This is a great book! It goes into considerable depth about how people think and how the way we process information should affect computer interface design. The two key concepts are the singular nature of the human locus of attention, and the human ability (and compulsion) to habituate behavior. The author then details how he would design a whole new way of interacting with computers to take advantage of these two key concepts. I found the author's ideas intriguing and his point of view a direct, if somewhat idealistic, challenge to the current human/computer interface paradigm.
What this book isn't, however, is a practical guide for how to improve your own design. This is a very theoretical text (although extremely easy to read), not a reference or a checklist. Be sure you are aware that the book is trying to give you a foundation and a point of view, not a tutorial. Once you recognize that, it is a tremendous read!
Rating: 5
Summary: The best book for teaching human interface design
Comment: I scoured numerous texts to support a college seminar course in human/computer interaction design. My hunches led me to select this book from among many other excellent books. In retrospect it is one of the best textbook selections I have ever made. The book covers fundamentals of simple human psychology that are both key to good design and that will stay with students for life. It provides practical techniques, design approaches, and measures that students can immediately apply in real life. And it provokes the student (and the professor) to think about programming--not just interface design--in refreshingly radical new ways. In short, this book does everything a great textbook should do, and more. I've been a programmer for 20 years, and it changed *my* view of programming.
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Title: The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman ISBN: 0465067107 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 17 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Inmates Are Running the Asylum : Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How To Restore The Sanity by Alan Cooper ISBN: 0672316498 Publisher: Sams Pub. Date: 06 April, 1999 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: About Face 2.0: The Essentials of Interaction Design by Alan Cooper, Robert M. Reimann ISBN: 0764526413 Publisher: Wiley Pub. Date: 17 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: Designing from Both Sides of the Screen: How Designers and Engineers Can Collaborate to Build Cooperative Technology by Ellen Isaacs, Alan Walendowski ISBN: 0672321513 Publisher: Sams Pub. Date: 10 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $44.99 |
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Title: Emotional Design: Why We Love (Or Hate) Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman ISBN: 0465051359 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 23 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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