The Joy of UX

Author: David S. Platt
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
ISBN: 0134277805
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 465

Book Description
“For years now, I’ve been running around preaching to anyone who’ll listen that UX is something that everybody (not just UX people) needs to be doing. Dave has done an excellent job of explaining what developers need to know about UX, in a complete but compact, easy-to-absorb, and implementable form. Developers, come and get it!” —Steve Krug, author of Don’t Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability Master User Experience and Interaction Design from the Developer’s Perspective For modern developers, UX expertise is indispensable: Without outstanding user experience, your software will fail. Now, David Platt has written the first and only comprehensive developer’s guide to achieving a world-class user experience. Quality user experience isn’t hard, but it does require developers to think in new ways. The Joy of UX shows you how, with plenty of concrete examples. Firmly grounded in reality, this guide will help you optimize usability and engagement while also coping with difficult technical, schedule, and budget constraints. Platt’s technology-agnostic approach illuminates all the principles, techniques, and best practices you need to build great user experiences for the web, mobile devices, and desktop environments. He covers the entire process, from user personas and stories through wireframes, layouts, and execution. He also addresses key issues—such as telemetry and security—that many other UX guides ignore. You’ll find all the resources and artifacts you need: complete case studies, sample design documents, testing plans, and more. This guide shows you how to Recognize and avoid pitfalls that lead to poor user experiences Learn the crucial difference between design and mere decoration Put yourself in your users’ shoes—understand what they want (and where, when, and why) Quickly sketch and prototype user interfaces for easy refinement Test your sketches on real users or appropriate surrogates Integrate telemetry to capture the best possible usage information Use analytics to accurately interpret the data you’ve captured Solve unique experience problems presented by mobile environments Secure your app without compromising usability any more than necessary “Polish” your UX to eliminate user effort everywhere you can Register your product at informit.com/register for convenient access to downloads, updates, and corrections as they become available.

Why Software Sucks-- and what You Can Do about it

Author: David S. Platt
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
ISBN: 0321466756
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Book Description
"I've just finished reading the best computer book [ Why Software Sucks...] since I last re-read one of mine and I wanted to pass along the good word. . . . Put this one on your must-have list if you have software, love software, hate programmers, or even ARE a programmer, because Mr. Platt (who teaches programming) has set out to puncture the bloated egos of all those who think that just because they can write a program, they can make it easy to use. . . . This book is funny, but it is also an important wake-up call for software companies that want to reduce the size of their customer support bills. If you were ever stuck for an answer to the question, 'Why do good programmers make such awful software?' this book holds the answer." -- John McCormick, Locksmith columnist, TechRepublic.com "I must say first, I don't get many computing manuscripts that make me laugh out loud. Between the laughs, Dave Platt delivers some very interesting insight and perspective, all in a lucid and engaging style. I don't get much of that either!" -- Henry Leitner, assistant dean for information technology and senior lecturer on computer science, Harvard University "A riotous book for all of us downtrodden computer users, written in language that we understand." -- Stacy Baratelli, author's barber "David's unique take on the problems that bedevil software creation made me think about the process in new ways. If you care about the quality of the software you create or use, read this book." -- Dave Chappell, principal, Chappell & Associates "I began to read it in my office but stopped before I reached the bottom of the first page. I couldn't keep a grin off my face! I'll enjoy it after I go back home and find a safe place to read." -- Tsukasa Makino, IT manager "David explains, in terms that my mother-in-law can understand, why the software we use today can be so frustrating, even dangerous at times, and gives us some real ideas on what we can do about it." -- Jim Brosseau, Clarrus Consulting Group, Inc. A Book for Anyone Who Uses a Computer Today...and Just Wants to Scream! Today's software sucks. There's no other good way to say it. It's unsafe, allowing criminal programs to creep through the Internet wires into our very bedrooms. It's unreliable, crashing when we need it most, wiping out hours or days of work with no way to get it back. And it's hard to use, requiring large amounts of head-banging to figure out the simplest operations. It's no secret that software sucks. You know that from personal experience, whether you use computers for work or personal tasks. In this book, programming insider David Platt explains why that's the case and, more importantly, why it doesn't have to be that way. And he explains it in plain, jargon-free English that's a joy to read, using real-world examples with which you're already familiar. In the end, he suggests what you, as a typical user, without a technical background, can do about this sad state of our software--how you, as an informed consumer, don't have to take the abuse that bad software dishes out. As you might expect from the book's title, Dave's expose is laced with humor--sometimes outrageous, but always dead on. You'll laugh out loud as you recall incidents with your own software that made you cry. You'll slap your thigh with the same hand that so often pounded your computer desk and wished it was a bad programmer's face. But Dave hasn't written this book just for laughs. He's written it to give long-overdue voice to your own discovery--that software does, indeed, suck, but it shouldn't.

Android User Interface Design

Author: Ian G. Clifton
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
ISBN: 0134191951
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 864

Book Description
Build Android 6 Material Design Apps That Are Stunningly Attractive, Functional, and Intuitive As Android development has matured and grown increasingly competitive, developers have recognized the crucial importance of good design. With Material Design, Google introduced its most radical visual changes ever, and made effective design even more essential. Android 6 and the design support library continue to push mobile design forward. In Android User Interface Design, Second Edition, leading Android developer and user experience (UX) advocate Ian G. Clifton shows how to combine exceptional usability and outstanding visual appeal. Clifton helps you build apps that new users can succeed with instantly: apps that leverage users’ previous experience previous experience, reflect platform conventions, and never test their patience. You won’t need any design experience: Clifton walks you through the entire process, from wireframes and flowcharts to finished apps with polished animations and advanced compositing. You’ll find hands-on case studies and extensive downloadable sample code, including complete finished apps. • Integrate Material Design into backward compatible Android 6 apps • Understand views, the building blocks of Android user interfaces • Make the most of wireframes and conceptual prototypes • Apply user-centered design throughout • Master the essentials of typography and iconography • Use custom themes and styles for consistent visuals • Handle inputs and scrolling • Create beautiful transition animations • Use advanced components like spans and image caches • Work with the canvas, color filters, shaders, and image compositing • Combine multiple views into efficient custom components • Customize views to meet unique drawing or interaction requirements • Maximize downloads by designing compelling app store assets Step by step, this guide bridges the gap between Android developers and designers, so you can collaborate on world-class app designs...or do it all yourself! “This well-presented, easy-to-grasp book gets to the heart of Android User Interface Design. Well worth the reading time!” --Dr. Adam Porter, University of Maryland, Fraunhofer Center for Experimental Software Engineering "Ian's grasp of Android is fantastic, and this book is a great read for any developer or designer. I've personally worked on 30+ Android applications, and I was learning new tips with every chapter." --Cameron Banga, Lead Designer, 9magnets, LLC

Emotional Design

Author: Don Norman
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465004172
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Book Description
Why attractive things work better and other crucial insights into human-centered design Emotions are inseparable from how we humans think, choose, and act. In Emotional Design, cognitive scientist Don Norman shows how the principles of human psychology apply to the invention and design of new technologies and products. In The Design of Everyday Things, Norman made the definitive case for human-centered design, showing that good design demanded that the user's must take precedence over a designer's aesthetic if anything, from light switches to airplanes, was going to work as the user needed. In this book, he takes his thinking several steps farther, showing that successful design must incorporate not just what users need, but must address our minds by attending to our visceral reactions, to our behavioral choices, and to the stories we want the things in our lives to tell others about ourselves. Good human-centered design isn't just about making effective tools that are straightforward to use; it's about making affective tools that mesh well with our emotions and help us express our identities and support our social lives. From roller coasters to robots, sports cars to smart phones, attractive things work better. Whether designer or consumer, user or inventor, this book is the definitive guide to making Norman's insights work for you.

Simple and Usable Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design

Author: Giles Colborne
Publisher: New Riders
ISBN: 0321714156
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 277

Book Description
In a complex world, products that are easy to use win favor with consumers. This is the first book on the topic of simplicity aimed specifically at interaction designers. It shows how to drill down and simplify user experiences when designing digital tools and applications. It begins by explaining why simplicity is attractive, explores the laws of simplicity, and presents proven strategies for achieving simplicity. Remove, hide, organize and displace become guidelines for designers, who learn simplicity by seeing before and after examples and case studies where the results speak for themselves.

UX for Developers

Author: Westley Knight
Publisher: Apress
ISBN: 1484242270
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 178

Book Description
Become more mindful of the user when building digital products, and learn how to integrate a user-centered approach into your thinking as a web or app developer. This book shows you how the user experience is the responsibility of everyone involved in creating the product and how to redefine development principles when building user-centered digital products. There are still many organizations that are not design driven, and the gap between stereotypical design and development teams needs to be bridged in order to build digital products that cater to the needs of real people. We are at a point where we see organizations that cannot bring the user experience into their core thinking falling behind their competitors. You'll see how to increase the level of UX maturity within any organization by tackling what is possibly the biggest stumbling block that stands between design and development: putting user needs ahead of system efficiency. UX for Developers shows how you can adjust your focus in order to be more mindful of the user when building digital products. Learn to care about what you build, not just for the system’s sake, but for those who will use what you build. What You'll Learn Understand what it means to build websites and applications for the user, rather than from a developer’s perspective. Review the soft skills required to build more usable digital productsDiscover the tools and techniques to adopt a user-focused approach to development.Improve communication throughout design and development, especially between developers and non-developers. Who This Book Is For Primary audience is Web/app developers that are looking to understand what it takes to build usable digital products. Secondary audience is UX Designers who are looking to understand the viewpoint of developers; Project managers and stakeholders who need to facilitate better working relationships between developers and designers.

3D User Interfaces

Author: Doug Bowman
Publisher: Addison-Wesley
ISBN: 013339056X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 867

Book Description
Here’s what three pioneers in computer graphics and human-computer interaction have to say about this book: “What a tour de force—everything one would want—comprehensive, encyclopedic, and authoritative.” — Jim Foley “At last, a book on this important, emerging area. It will be an indispensable reference for the practitioner, researcher, and student interested in 3D user interfaces.” — Andy van Dam “Finally, the book we need to bridge the dream of 3D graphics with the user-centered reality of interface design. A thoughtful and practical guide for researchers and product developers. Thorough review, great examples.” — Ben Shneiderman As 3D technology becomes available for a wide range of applications, its successful deployment will require well-designed user interfaces (UIs). Specifically, software and hardware developers will need to understand the interaction principles and techniques peculiar to a 3D environment. This understanding, of course, builds on usability experience with 2D UIs. But it also involves new and unique challenges and opportunities. Discussing all relevant aspects of interaction, enhanced by instructive examples and guidelines, 3D User Interfaces comprises a single source for the latest theory and practice of 3D UIs. Many people already have seen 3D UIs in computer-aided design, radiation therapy, surgical simulation, data visualization, and virtual-reality entertainment. The next generation of computer games, mobile devices, and desktop applications also will feature 3D interaction. The authors of this book, each at the forefront of research and development in the young and dynamic field of 3D UIs, show how to produce usable 3D applications that deliver on their enormous promise. Coverage includes: The psychology and human factors of various 3D interaction tasks Different approaches for evaluating 3D UIs Results from empirical studies of 3D interaction techniques Principles for choosing appropriate input and output devices for 3D systems Details and tips on implementing common 3D interaction techniques Guidelines for selecting the most effective interaction techniques for common 3D tasks Case studies of 3D UIs in real-world applications To help you keep pace with this fast-evolving field, the book’s Web site, www.3dui.org, will offer information and links to the latest 3D UI research and applications.

Don't Make Me Think

Author: Steve Krug
Publisher: Pearson Education
ISBN: 0321648781
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 325

Book Description
Five years and more than 100,000 copies after it was first published, it's hard to imagine anyone working in Web design who hasn't read Steve Krug's "instant classic" on Web usability, but people are still discovering it every day. In this second edition, Steve adds three new chapters in the same style as the original: wry and entertaining, yet loaded with insights and practical advice for novice and veteran alike. Don't be surprised if it completely changes the way you think about Web design. Three New Chapters! Usability as common courtesy -- Why people really leave Web sites Web Accessibility, CSS, and you -- Making sites usable and accessible Help! My boss wants me to ______. -- Surviving executive design whims "I thought usability was the enemy of design until I read the first edition of this book. Don't Make Me Think! showed me how to put myself in the position of the person who uses my site. After reading it over a couple of hours and putting its ideas to work for the past five years, I can say it has done more to improve my abilities as a Web designer than any other book. In this second edition, Steve Krug adds essential ammunition for those whose bosses, clients, stakeholders, and marketing managers insist on doing the wrong thing. If you design, write, program, own, or manage Web sites, you must read this book." -- Jeffrey Zeldman, author of Designing with Web Standards

A Project Guide to UX Design

Author: Russ Unger
Publisher: New Riders
ISBN: 0132931729
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 558

Book Description
User experience design is the discipline of creating a useful and usable Web site or application that’s easily navigated and meets the needs of the site owner and its users. There’s a lot more to successful UX design than knowing the latest Web technologies or design trends: It takes diplomacy, management skills, and business savvy. That’s where the updated edition of this important book comes in. With new information on design principles, mobile and gestural interactions, content strategy, remote research tools and more, you’ll learn to: Recognize the various roles in UX design, identify stakeholders, and enlist their support Obtain consensus from your team on project objectives Understand approaches such as Waterfall, Agile, and Lean UX Define the scope of your project and avoid mission creep Conduct user research in person or remotely, and document your findings Understand and communicate user behavior with personas Design and prototype your application or site Plan for development, product rollout, and ongoing quality assurance

Augmented Reality

Author: Dieter Schmalstieg
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
ISBN: 0133153207
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 751

Book Description
Today’s Comprehensive and Authoritative Guide to Augmented Reality By overlaying computer-generated information on the real world, augmented reality (AR) amplifies human perception and cognition in remarkable ways. Working in this fast-growing field requires knowledge of multiple disciplines, including computer vision, computer graphics, and human-computer interaction. Augmented Reality: Principles and Practice integrates all this knowledge into a single-source reference, presenting today’s most significant work with scrupulous accuracy. Pioneering researchers Dieter Schmalstieg and Tobias Höllerer carefully balance principles and practice, illuminating AR from technical, methodological, and user perspectives. Coverage includes Displays: head-mounted, handheld, projective, auditory, and haptic Tracking/sensing, including physical principles, sensor fusion, and real-time computer vision Calibration/registration, ensuring repeatable, accurate, coherent behavior Seamless blending of real and virtual objects Visualization to enhance intuitive understanding Interaction–from situated browsing to full 3D interaction Modeling new geometric content Authoring AR presentations and databases Architecting AR systems with real-time, multimedia, and distributed elements This guide is indispensable for anyone interested in AR, including developers, engineers, students, instructors, researchers, and serious hobbyists.