- Paperback: 600 pages
- Publisher: Microsoft Press,U.S.; Pap/Cdr edition (1 May 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0735605866
- ISBN-13: 978-0735605862
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 18.5 x 4.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
1,892,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #90 in Books > Computers & Internet > Web Development > E-commerce > Web Design > Virtual Reality
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
For the seasoned C++ programmer Developing User Interfaces for Microsoft Windows provides a common-sense guide for improving Windows user interfaces. After a survey of recent writings on user interface design this title covers a wide range of topics in very short chapters with a minimum of software engineering jargon. One outstanding area looks at re-using resources in Visual C++. The text also presents a "model" Windows programme--Visual C++ 5.0.
In its exploration of designing software for beginning and advanced users the book advises against creating software tailored for specialised roles (a preference that arguably shows the book's interest in "shrink-wrapped" software as business applications routinely require distinct modules for different types of users). Software is categorised into applications and utilities, with visual design guidelines for each. The book doesn't avoid controversy here by arguing against both user-driven design and prototyping within the project life cycle. Further chapters look at what UI features should be readily visible to users and which ones--like unnecessary error messages--should be removed.
In one notable section new ideas in UI design based on today's Web sites are presented. (HTML changes the rules for Windows desktop users too.) Readers also get a laundry list of features that work, such as "direct manipulation", good configurability, previews and tooltips. There's advice on help and documentation and an excellent section on creating simpler yet more effective setup programs. This book can be read profitably by any Windows developer using C++. It provides a solid checklist for thinking about user interface design on the Windows platform. --Richard Dragan
from Isys Information Architects, Interface Hall of Shame - Recommended Reading
Everett McKay's Developing User Interfaces for Microsoft Windows provides a great deal of practical, straightforward information written specifically for Windows developers. Unlike most books on GUI design, this book is written by a programmer, and as such, may seem more accessible to other developers. Highly recommended for the target audience.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Knowing, understanding, and applying the standards for Microsoft Windows user interface design allows you to create programs that the user already knows how to use. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Knowing, understanding, and applying the standards for Microsoft Windows user interface design allows you to create programs that the user already knows how to use. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Developing User Interfaces for Windows should be within reach of every Windows developer who will have some UI developing to do. Along with the Windows User Experience, also from Microsoft Press, this book is an invaluable aid.
Each chapter is short and precise, but, avoiding any cliché's, explains the Windows UI and developing for it in great details. The Book is relatively long, but it needs to be in order to cover in detail the task of developing Windows UI applications, which it does well.
The book is slightly geared towards 'C' developers, but I am a VB developer and find it easy to convert and 'C' idioms into VB. The book is in a real-world 'hands-on' style. Not too much theory and analysis exists (unlike other books on UI design), which lends it to being excellent both for reading and for reference afterwards.
I Highly recommend this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The chapter "Learn from the Web" is *almost* worth the price of the book. It lays out clearly and concisely the differences between web and windows interfaces, and why the web interface is the way it is.
The rest of the book, unfortunately, is less informative. It's somewhat painful to read, as the author repeats himself incessantly. That is, he says the same thing over and over. Many times. One has the impression he was paid by the word: each chapter ends with a couple pages of recommended reading, frequently with the same books. The author rambles endlessly about which features he does and does not like about different windows applications. No attempt is made to compare his personal preferences with real user reactions or usability studies. Frequently in order to provide a 'bad' example, he shows how an existing dialog could have been made even worse. No such dialogs exists. It's the old straw-man approach. There are no examples of how an existing dialog might have been made better.
In between repeating himself, rambling, referring to other authors and building straw men; the author manages to convey a reasonable collecton of user interface basics. Emphasis on basic. Repeated many times, of course.
If you are trying to bring your interface *up to* Windows levels, then this may still be a useful book to you. However, if you consider Windows way behind in the art of the user interface, or if you have any UI experience at all, you will not find further enlightenment here. (Except perhaps the first 4 pages of the Web chapter.)
Format:Paperback
I was a little sceptical at the price of this book, but now I have received I have to say it is one of the most useful I have seen. Each chapter takes a different issue and explains it in easy simple language, give a number of example and the pros and cons of each idea. As each chapter is short and concise it is the sort of thing you could pick up and read over a tea break and actually learn something new in that time. The title is specific to Microsoft Windows, but it is equally relavant to other operating systems as well. Talking about the ideas behind design (different groups of user etc), it even talks about the design of HTML pages. The only concern I now have is that it is possible to see how badly written out product is :-).
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very useful, comprehensive, referential
This is a good book. It is long, but so are most comprehensive books and the style is conversational and easy to read. Read more
Published on 18 Aug 1999
The first comprehensive user-interface manual
Ever wonder why your software isn't as intuitive as something from Microsoft? Me too.
I've been browsing through different user interface books for months (and drinking plenty... Read more
Published on 26 July 1999
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