Poulsden Lacey

Fascinating, but more like a textbook than a business book, 31 Dec 2012

The authors synthesise a wide number of design and psychology research ideas into a simple "Attract, Converse, Transact" model that product and web designers can apply to their work. They make a compelling case, and they provide a practical toolset for dealing with the differing emotions and motivations of users. There's an awful lot of rich content in this book, presented in a usable way.

However, it's not a light read.

Having just finished Stephen P. Anderson's "Seductive Interaction Design", I was expecting this book to take a similar approach. However, this book is more closer to a textbook, citing research papers in many paragraphs. It's quite a while since I read… Read more

A deep book that's invaluable for companies in IT, 16 July 2012

I first heard of this book when someone at a software company I know said they were building their strategy around this book. It's a great book, but it's not a book you'll polish off in an afternoon. I found my head with spinning with ideas after a few chapters, and I'm still not sure if I have taken it all in and that I understand it fully. I had to read a chapter, let it settle in the brain, and then read another one. That's not really the fault of the book, though - more the limitations of my brain.

This book offers a strategy for startups, and it's easy to miss one of Reiss's points that customers expect a more polished deliverable once the product is established. I also… Read more

Essential for anyone wanting to provide Help for a mobile app, 17 Jun 2012

The growth in mobile apps is probably the biggest change in User Assistance since the introduction of Windows and the mouse. This book looks at how to assist users of mobile apps from an information design and a technical perspective. It does not cover mobile documents (how to best deliver operations manuals, for example, on a smartphone) and it only briefly touches on providing Help for tablet apps.

Joe Welinske is a highly respected conference speaker and author, and he was one of the first people in the technical communications field to spot the importance and potential of mobile apps.

If you're developing a mobile app (and you want people to use it for more than… Read more