Re: Recommended Reading

FROM : Don Yacktman
DATE : Mon Apr 04 20:09:06 2005

On Apr 4, 2005, at 6:20 AM, M. Uli Kusterer wrote:
> At 21:19 Uhr -0500 03.04.2005, Benjamin S wrote:

>> Another book on human interface design.  I would like to have a better
>> understanding of why and how I should layout an interface.

>
>  I've just finished Jeff Johnson's "GUI Bloopers" book. It's a little
> verbose, but beautifully gives the rationale for most of the less
> obvious aspects of user interface design.


There are several books out there that are probably worth looking at. 
Two of my favorites are by Alan Cooper:

About Face 2.0: The Essentials of Interaction Design
by  Alan Cooper, Robert M. Reimann
Paperback: 504 pages
Publisher: Wiley; 1st edition  (March 17, 2003)
ISBN: 0764526413

The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us
Crazy and How To Restore The Sanity
by  Alan Cooper
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Sams; 1st edition  (April 6, 1999)
ISBN: 0672316498

You can get both from Amazon right now for just under $40.

I sort of don't want to put my review this way, but here goes... The
books make some excellent points, but I don't agree with everything he
has to say.  Even so, these books will at least get you thinking about
some things you probably never thought about before and they really do
contain some great ideas.  Therefore, if you pick them up, don't take
them as gospel.  Think of them as a starting point to get you thinking
along the right lines, then weigh the information and draw your own
conclusions.

The reason I don't like putting it that way is that it creates the
danger that you might dismiss the best ideas too quickly or easily. 
Some of the really good ideas might seem a little strange or
counterintuitive at first.  So while I disagree with a few of Cooper's
points, I feel like all of them need to be weighed carefully and given
a fair chance -- you don't want to dismiss a good idea out of hand just
because it seemed odd at first.  Conversely, after careful
consideration, I did personally conclude that a few of his ideas were
crap.  That's not a bad thing -- the thought process provoked by the
book (which eventually led to those conclusions) was the valuable part
for me.

Design rules of thumb are nice, but getting me thinking deeply enough
that I can come up with my own rules to cope with unanticipated design
difficulties is even better.  So get the books, read them, and then
spend a bunch of time _thinking_ about the content.  And don't let the
sometimes light, sometimes arrogant or inflammatory tone the author
takes turn you away, either.  I think that was deliberate, probably to
incite the reader to start thinking things through.

There's more I could say, but this is long enough.  Bottom line?  I
really do think these two books should be required reading for anyone
doing UI design.  Neither one is flawless, but they do make a great
jumping off point and get you pointed in a good general direction.  If
you let them get you thinking, you can gain a lot from them.

--
Later,

Don Yacktman
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