Review: Designing for Interaction

Dan Saffer's Designing for Interaction: Creating Smart Applications and Clever Devices was an ambitious undertaking. In fewer than 300 pages, he has attempted to cover the history, current practice, and notions about the future of the rapidly evolving discipline of interaction design (IxD). Whether you are simply curious about interaction design, are entering the profession yourself, or are collaborating with an interaction designer, Designing for Interaction is a good place to start your journey down the road of interaction design.

Frishberg, Leo. UXmatters (2006). Articles>Reviews>Interaction Design

Review: Designing Interfaces

Over the past few years, I have come to appreciate the power patterns have as a shorthand that lets software engineers communicate their design intentions. Being able to discuss an Observer or Factory pattern with other engineers quickly moves the design discussion to more substantive concerns.

Frishberg, Leo. UXmatters (2006). Articles>Reviews>User Interface

Designing User Experiences for Applications Versus Information Resources on the Web

The relatively recent adoption of user-focused design practices by the Web design and development community--including personas, participatory design, paper prototyping, and the like--highlights important distinctions between the user experiences of desktop applications and those of information spaces. With the growing desire for usable Web applications, these distinctions become more topical and important to understand. Though the process of designing and creating application and information space user experiences for the Web is virtually the same--even if the deliverable design documents may differ--their user experiences are fundamentally and profoundly different. For designers, business analysts, marketing consultants, and others who are sincerely interested in delivering the best user experiences online, understanding these distinctions can reduce the cost of design and improve the likelihood of user acceptance.

Frishberg, Leo. UXmatters (2006). Design>User Experience>Programming>Participatory Design

Review: Effective Prototyping for Software Makers

Effective Prototyping for Software Makers is an ambitious undertaking that in some ways redefined the meaning of prototyping for me. No reader is likely to absorb this tome from cover to cover--certainly not in one sitting and maybe never. The authors have tried to include as much information as possible on the topic, resulting in an extensive reference that paradoxically leaves me unsatisfied.

Frishberg, Leo. UXmatters (2007). Articles>Reviews>Prototyping