Sketching User Experiences – Bill Buxton
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In many ways Bill Buxton’s book was a surprise. Perhaps I had read too many reviews but what I found was part history lesson, part analysis of design practice and efficacy of tools. On the whole, I felt it was posing the question of what we should be striving towards in our design practices.
The foundations of design theory and practice The credence behind many of his statements can be found in the immense bibliography that one imagines you attain when you are a principal of research for Microsoft and also a design professor. There is no doubt it helps in carrying weight to his arguments and in many ways it enriches the design education of anybody who is involved in this profession Occasionally there is a tone that seems to dismiss those who do not have this breadth of knowledge, that they are lacking and are mere naive clumsy designers. That seemed to show a lack of awareness of the way people find their references from different sources these days. |
Universal Principles of Design: 100 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design
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With a title like that you would think you were in for some pretty arduous reading. But this book achieves a solid, broad and well researched overview of the key design principles.
When I review a book I like to see what others say about it. The criticism this book receives, is focused on the layout (typography and quality of illustrations) and the focus it has on US case stories. However, the core of the book is the text, and it is a well written enormously ambitious work that cites key influencers of design thinking. It crosses the boundaries between design disciplines with ease. It is essential reading if you are a designer, in education or work with those involved in design. |
Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click?
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The human brain is complex but this book manages to break it down into parts that we can relate to and is a very accessible and quick book to read.The author, Dr Susan Weinschenk, tells of us having three brains in one. Which certainly explains why it is so necessary to embark on research – with three brains how can we ever second guess our users?
She lays out how this complex system works but also states that the unconscious mind makes many of the decisions in our lives. By influencing the unconscious mind though design techniques, we can effectively persuade users to interact with our sites and become more engaged.
The book is not really a practical, by the numbers guide, but more about the concepts of why users do the things they do. As such its worth buying and an enjoyable read that gives us insights that are backed up with actual contemporary research. |
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Everyware
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Adam Greenfield’s book is a thorough examination of ubiquitous computing. As a user experience professional, he writes with the insights of a practitioner. This gives us a book that will be invaluable, as the UX community grapples with the challenges of this concept.
What Greenfield is eager to make us aware of is the lack of a design language, or agreed design standards to build interfaces that will allow users to interact with ‘everyware’ (his term for inexpensive devices that have been integrated into everyday objects and activities).Managing information in the environment of ubicomp is challenging.
Building interfaces that relate to physical objects involves designing systems that relate the mechanics of the device to the user through an illustrative user interface.
When building these systems we have to think beyond just laying out the choices, we have to think about the way the systems work in the real world and show this on screen. We must be aware of the technology in use and what is next in terms of future applications. |
Paper Swans and Play-Doh
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Analog In, Digital Out: Brendan Dawes on Interaction Design
There have been several events where one speaker really shone out from the rest, and this alongside the more celebrated thought leaders in the UX field. His delivery can best be described as entertaining, humorous story-telling. As the title of the post suggests, he has a different approach to illustrate the importance of interaction design.
His book has been out since 2006 but despite the arrival of the iPhone and Wii his observations are just as important today. Brendan Dawes’ book, ‘Analog In, Digital Out‘ is an important work to this domain for many reasons. |
Ambient Findability
I guess you could say this is a meme map of Morville’s observations, research and his ability to see into the future of the trends of Internet based technologies.
Its an interesting, and enlightening, discussion about what we as humans want and need from technology. It seems the text is intended to propagate more discussions and in turn discoveries around the subject of findability and technology. The book certainly makes you think about where we are heading as a society, but also the importance of the products we use and how they become integral to our lives.
Being able to orientate ourselves is a natural human instinct. In the 21st century, findability is a concept that we must ensure is present in the products that are developed (have a look at this great article about its importance just published here on A List Apart).
Its an inspirational read for many reasons, never trying to present answers, but certainly showing the questions that we need to answer if we are to harness the information monster we have created.
You should expect to read something that will present concepts and not case studies or solutions to problems. This book is about the bigger picture and the troubles of information management we face as a society.
Verdict: A philosophical study of where we are, and where we are going that proves Morville is at the forefront of thought leadership when it comes to Information Architecture.
Designing Web Navigation
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James Kalbach succeeds in bringing together the fundamental components that determine great, and not-so-great, user interfaces. The UI itself must always be respected and the author illustrates exactly why in the journey the book takes us on. What the book does is show how this can be achieved, from the past, notably from the present and into the future. The illustrations are in colour (critically important for any design book) and give clarity to the text’s important insights. Read more… |
