Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction: Amazon.co.uk: Ben Shneiderman, Catherine Plaisant: Books

Product Description

The much-anticipated fourth edition of Designing the User Interface provides a comprehensive, authoritative introduction to the dynamic field of human-computer interaction (HCI). Students and professionals learn practical principles and guidelines needed to develop high quality interface designs—ones that users can understand, predict, and control. It covers theoretical foundations, and design processes such as expert reviews and usability testing. Numerous examples of direct manipulation, menu selection, and form fill-in give readers an understanding of excellence in design. Recent innovations in collaborative interfaces, online help, and information visualization receive special attention. A major change in this edition is the integration of the World Wide Web and mobile devices throughout the book. Chapters have examples from cell phones, consumer electronics, desktop displays, and Web interfaces.

From the Back Cover

In 1996, recognizing this book, ACM's Special Interest Group on Documentation (SIGDOC) presented Ben Shneiderman with the Joseph Rigo Award. SIGDOC praised the book as one "that took the jargon and mystery out of the field of human-computer interaction" and attributed the book's success to "its readability and emphasis on practice as well as research."

In revising this best-seller, Ben Shneiderman again provides a complete, current, and authoritative introduction to user-interface design. The user interface is the part of every computer system that determines how people control and operate that system. When the interface is well designed, it is comprehensible, predictable, and controllable; users feel competent, satisfied, and responsible for their actions. In this book, the author discusses the principles and practices needed to design such effective interaction.

Based on 20 years experience, Shneiderman offers readers practical techniques and guidelines for interface design. As a scientist, he also takes great care to discuss underlying issues and to support conclusions with empirical results. Interface designers, software engineers, and product managers will all find here an invaluable resource for creating systems that facilitate rapid learning and performance, yield low error rates, and generate high user satisfaction.

Coverage includes the human factors of interactive software (with added discussion of diverse user communities), tested methods to develop and assess interfaces, interaction styles (like direct manipulation for graphical user interfaces), and design considerations (effective messages, consistent screen design, appropriate color).

Highlights of the Third Edition:

New chapters on the World Wide Web, Information Visualization, and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work
Expanded and earlier coverage of Development Methodologies, Evaluation Techniques, and User-Interface-Building Tools
Thought-provoking discussion of Speech Input/Output, Natural-Language Interaction, Anthropomorphic Design, Virtual Environments, and Agents

A booksite that accompanies the book with additional information and instructional suport is now available.

0201694972B04062001 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Academic book 22 Aug 2010

By Marwa Alsaleh

Format:Hardcover

Book is great but it is more academic that it is practical. if you are looking to read historical information about interface design and researched conducted for this reason so this book is great for you.

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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

Excellent for a multi-disciplinary approach to the subject. 24 Oct 1999

By A Customer

Can't be beaten for content.It's amazing how much Scneiderman can put into one book.Certainly covers all topics in depth, I really don't know how he manages it.To be recommended for undegraduates up to research level. It has certainly taught me a thing or two.

What is the point of this book? 22 May 2012

By Michael Lloyd

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Software user interface design is a very important discipline, and one which Apple has recently revolutionised. Making things easy is notoriously hard, so screen ergonomics is an important and challenging topic. Investing in this book seemed like a very sensible idea.

Unfortunately, and astonishingly, this 600 page book has pretty much no actionable content. It is a high level descriptive romp through the subject at a superficial and occasionally facile level - for example, from a page opened at random: "Social media participation can involve 10 people in a chat room or hundreds of millions of discretionary users in an environment such as Facebook or Myspace." So what? The authors never seem to convert their rather uninsightful observations into any valid or useful recommendation for action. This is the sort of book for which the phrase "No s**t, Sherlock" was invented.

At the beginning of the book the authors list "Ways to use this book". I can recommend one more: put it on your bookshelf and point at it. That's about as valuable as it gets.