Difficult to learn and awkward to use, today's information systems often change our lives in ways that we do not need or want. The problem lies in the software development process. In this book John Carroll shows how a pervasive but underused element of design practice, the scenario, can transform information systems design. Traditional textbook approaches manage the complexity of the design process via abstraction, treating design problems as if they were composites of puzzles. Scenario-based design uses concretization. A scenario is a concrete story about use. For example: "A person turned on a computer; the screen displayed a button labelled Start; the person used the mouse to select the button". Scenarios are a vocabulary for coordinating the central tasks of system development - understanding people's needs, envisioning new activities and technologies, designing effective systems and software, and drawing general lessons from systems as they are developed and used. Instead of designing software by listing requirements, functions and code modules, the designer focuses first on the activities that need to be supported and then allows descriptions of those activities to drive everything else. In addition to a comprehensive discussion of the principles of scenario-based design, the book includes in-depth examples of its application.
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more. |
Book Description
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
"Masterfully written, deep, and thoughtful. The book goes directly to the essential questions of HCI design--what will users seek to accomplish, what understandings will they bring, and how can the system respond to users' needs?"--Jim Foley, Georgia Institute of Technology
About the Author
John M. Carroll is a professor in the School of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State University, University Park, P.A. . He has been elected into the C.H.I. Academy by The Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (A.C.M. S.I.G.C.H.I.) in recognition of his outstanding leadership and service in the field of computer-human interaction.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars
1 review
5.0 out of 5 stars
A landmark introduction to scenario-guided software development
28 Mar 2013
By Cem Kaner, J.D, Ph.D.
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This is a readable book, understandable by students, with nuances of value for professionals. When it came out, it clarified my thinking about scenario testing, improving my teaching and writing in that area significantly. Many discussions of scenarios in computing are oversimplified and dehumanized. Use cases and UML models focus on sequences of actions. The "actors" in these models need not be human. Motivation is considered only in terms of the actor's immediate goal. Carroll advocates a richer approached centered on the needs and interests of the person, with consideration of consequences (including emotional consequences) when things go wrong. Before I accepted a professorship, I worked in Silicon Valley for 17 years doing a wide range of software development and management tasks. With a Ph.D. In experimental psychology, I worked on the design of several systems, including the user interfaces of phones and a PBX and of several successful consumer products. Carroll describes design as I think it should be done. Keeping the humanity of the user in mind has been central to much of my best work. One more note -- I am writing this review now because I am back to this page again, ordering yet another copy of this book. Some books are frequently borrowed by my students (and never returned) while most books come back quickly. This is one of the most frequently stolen books from my library.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see the review
5.0 out of 5 stars
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
