Being interested in HCI, I read this book following a recommendation, but ended up more irritated than illuminated. There are a few good observations on common features of computer interfaces that actually cause difficulties to users, and some obvious points, that could conceivable be helpful to poor souls who have grown up subjected to the interface anarchy of the Microsoft platform, but the book is overlong, uneven, full of jargon, inadequately updated for the second edition and prone to presenting dubious opinions that justify their own practice as facts without any discussion, never mind supporting evidence. (For example the assertion that new users learn a program from the menu items, and the toolbars are for more experienced users.) Ultimately, despite having sound ideas in some areas, the authors seem wedded to a cluttered interface with too many items for the user to comprehend. I suppose they make a living producing Windows software, where such clutter is the norm, but they seem to be completely ignorant of the perceptual aspects of interface design.