About Face 3
- Author: Alan, Cooper, Robert Reimann, and David Cronin
- Publisher: Wiley
- Classification: Interaction Design
I was lent this book to read by my friend Ben Ireland, Head of UX at Splendid. I was talking to him about the topic and wanted to know what would be a good book to read. According to him About Face is the book on the topic. So without further ado I got to it…
If you already know what interaction design is then skip this and the next paragraph. Although it’s a fairly recent profession it is one that has gained wide spread adoption in many areas. In essence it’s the job of an interaction designer to understand what various users and types of users are trying to get out of using a product, and then making it as easy as possible for them to do this.
An example of bad interaction design is the infamous MS Word paperclip, with its ridiculous prompting of ‘it looks like you’re writing a letter’. No I’m not, now sod off!
As expected by a weighty volume on the topic, the book covers designing web 2.0 websites, mobile, desktop applications and just about any other digital product. The topics covered include:
- Understanding Goal-Directed Design
- Implementation Models and Mental Models
- Users as Beginners, Experts and Intermediates
- Understanding Users: Qualitative Research
- Modelling Users: Personas and Goals
- The Foundations of Design: Scenarios and Requirements
- From Requirements to Design: The Framework and Refinement
- Synthesizing Good Design: Principles and Patterns
- Platform and Posture
- Orchestration and Flow
- Eliminating Excise
- Designing Good Behaviour
- Metaphors, Idioms and Affordances
- Visual Interface Design
- Searching and Finding: Improving Data Retrieval
- Understanding Undo
- Rethinking Files and Saves
- Improving Data Entry
- Pointing, Selecting and Direct Manipulation
- Window Behaviours
- Controls
- Menus
- Toolbars
- Dialogs
- Errors, Alerts and Confirmation
- Designing for Different Needs
As you can see by the rather long list of chapters and topics above, this book aims to cover a lot of ground in its 567 pages. Which is probably why Ben described it as the book.
Although long it is actually built around just two core concepts. Goal directed design is the first, and means always trying to think about the users goals and how they can achieve them with as little effort as possible. This is harder than you may think as users often have conflicting goals and requirements.
The second concept says design should be aimed at the users mental model, not the implementation model. This is a slightly harder concept to sum-up. The implementation model (called the ‘system model’ by Donald Norman), is essentially how a computer actually works. A users mental model may be very different.
A user has no real need to be exposed to how a computer is actually working in order to perform useful functions with it. Similarly, most users believe that when they plug their toaster in electricity flows up the black tube from the wall and into the toaster, which heats the bread. This is not the reality, and there is a reversal of electrical potential every 120 times per second. However, a user of a household appliance doesn’t need to know that to make toast, so why should a computer user?
Undo should be modelled the least like its construction methods – its implementation model – and most like the user’s mental model
This is a good book and makes good points. It’s obviously written by Interaction Design professionals who know what they’re doing and believe in what they’re doing. Which is great. However, this isn’t communicated in the best way a lot of the time.
An example of this is the lack of visual examples and deconstruction. Some more detailed studies – or better still real life case studies – would have been infinitely useful to readers in developing practical implementation methods in their own work.
The attitude of the book is also combative and looks to exacerbate tensions between designers and developers. I believe you will be a better designer if you replace the ‘easier for developers’ – which is patronising and assumes developers don’t want to produce a good product – with the phrase ‘cheaper to develop’ or ‘quicker to developer’.
All projects have budget and time limitations, but this idea of compromise is very much subverted against the goal of producing the best possible product. But the reality is that concessions will have to be made in order to deliver a product on time and budget.
There are also condescending little ‘design principles’ at the end of many sections. These repeat what the last paragraph or two iterated in a single sentence. I’ve just read the paragraph, you don’t need to turn it into baby speak for me to get it, thank you.
Now I realise that this has turned into a rather disparaging review. However, the reality is that the information in this book will form the basis for most people’s learning within the interaction design industry. It’s just a shame that given the platform they couldn’t have been more positive.
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