Designing Interfaces (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: closable panels, responsive disclosure, input prompt, Zen Garden, Card Stack, Two-Panel Selector (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a definitely good book to study before you set out to design some new application or website and maybe an inspiration to revisit existing material." - John Collins, news@UK, September 2006

Product Description

Designing a good interface isn't easy. Users demand software that is well-behaved, good-looking, and easy to use. Your clients or managers demand originality and a short time to market. Your UI technology -- web applications, desktop software, even mobile devices -- may give you the tools you need, but little guidance on how to use them well.

UI designers over the years have refined the art of interface design, evolving many best practices and reusable ideas. If you learn these, and understand why the best user interfaces work so well, you too can design engaging and usable interfaces with less guesswork and more confidence.

"Designing Interfaces" captures those best practices as design patterns -- solutions to common design problems, tailored to the situation at hand. Each pattern contains practical advice that you can put to use immediately, plus a variety of examples illustrated in full color. You'll get recommendations, design alternatives, and warnings on when not to use them.

Each chapter's introduction describes key design concepts that are often misunderstood, such as affordances, visual hierarchy, navigational distance, and the use of color. These give you a deeper understanding of why the patterns work, and how to apply them with more insight.

A book can't design an interface for you -- no foolproof design process is given here -- but "Designing Interfaces" does give you concrete ideas that you can mix and recombine as you see fit. Experienced designers can use it as a sourcebook of ideas. Novice designers will find a roadmap to the world of interface and interaction design, with enough guidance to start using these patterns immediately.

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Product Details Paperback: 331 pages Publisher: O'Reilly Media; illustrated edition edition (November 21, 2005) Language: English ISBN-10: 0596008031 ISBN-13: 978-0596008031 Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 8 x 0.8 inches Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #22,739 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books) Popular in these categories: (What's this?) #18 in  Books > Computers & Internet > Graphic Design > Website Architecture & Usability #33 in  Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Software Design, Testing & Engineering > Object-Oriented Design #41 in  Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Software Engineering > Information Systems

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
closable panels, responsive disclosure, input prompt, visual framework, overview plus detail, illustrated choices, dragon fish, sortable table, annotated scrollbar, liquid layout, local zooming, movable panels, hatch effects, incremental construction, tiled panes, higher space consumption, low space consumption, high space consumption, modal panel, responsive enabling, diagonal balance, intriguing branches, paste variations, few hues, visual hierarchy

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Zen Garden, Card Stack, Two-Panel Selector, Sequence Map, Visual Studio, Structured Format, One-Window Drilldown, Good Defaults, Microsoft Word, The Beauty, Russian Federation, Forgiving Format, Multi-Level Undo, New York-Penn, Center Stage, File Folder, Boston-South Station, San Jose, Show Fares, Birthday Party, Windows Explorer, Multi-Level Help, System Preferences, Echo Fonts, Marc Cohn Marc Cohn

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	67% buy the item featured on this page: Designing Interfaces 4.3 out of 5 stars (54) $32.97
	12% buy Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition 4.7 out of 5 stars (491) $26.40
	12% buy Designing Web Interfaces: Principles and Patterns for Rich Interactions 4.5 out of 5 stars (12) $31.49
	5% buy A Project Guide to UX Design: For user experience designers in the field or in the making 5.0 out of 5 stars (8) $23.09

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Customer Reviews

54 Reviews 5 star:  (29) 4 star:  (15) 3 star:  (6) 2 star:  (4) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.3 out of 5 stars (54 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 139 of 145 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A different kind of user interface design book, December 4, 2005 By  calvinnme "Texan refugee" (Fredericksburg, Va) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)       This book is different from most books on designing user interfaces since the ideas are presented as design patterns, much as you would see in Gamma's classic book on the subject had it been adapted to human-computer interfacing rather than programming. Each of the patterns and techniques presented in this book are intended to help the reader solve common design problems. Patterns and techniques are presented for web sites, desktop applications, and everything in between such as web forms, Flash, and applets. The user interface design patterns presented in this book are intended to be read by people who have some knowledge of UI design concepts and terminology: dialogs, selection, combo boxes, navigation bars, whitespace, branding, and so on. The book does not identify many widely-accepted techniques such as copy-and-paste, as it is assumed that you probably already know what this is. However, some common techniques are described here to encourage their use in other contexts -- for instance, desktop apps could make better use of Toplevel Navigation -- or to discuss them alongside alternative solutions. If you're running short on ideas, or hung up on a difficult design problem, skimming this book and its design patterns may help you produce a good solution. Each pattern is presented with an image showing a possible implementation, a "Use When" section, a "Why" section, and a "How" section with very high level tool-independent implementation instructions. The patterns are organized into groups by function - organizing content, getting around, organizing the page, getting input from users, showing complex data, commands and action, direct manipulation, and stylistic elements. I would highly recommend this logically structured book to anyone from programmer to graphic artist who might be involved in user interface design. 82 of 87 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Widgets and aesthetics, December 21, 2005 By  Brett Merkey (Palm Harbor, FL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This book is lavishly illustrated and fun to read. The sections are color-coded and there are few pages without at least one full-color illustration. So often, Web app team workers and managers get grey on grey and so often our output reflects that. There are flow patterns, layout patterns, widget patterns galore. All good, but the chapter that gave me the most food for thought was the last, "Making It Look Good: Visual Style and Aesthetics." A Stanford study indicates that the most important factor in Web site credibility is the appearance of the site. This is probably also true of Web applications, but not in the same way. I have often had to go toe to toe with developers and executive managers who want to jazz things up with a far heavier, "more impressive" graphical treatment. VPs and marketers want something snazzy to show clients -- but they forget that someone who actually has to *use* an application in their workday may not find "snazzy" to be attractive at all. Reading this chapter gave me more confidence that the choices in typography, color balance, contrast, and whitespace our teams arrived at through much effort have been correct and beneficial ones. 27 of 27 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for designers..., November 8, 2006 By  Manny Hernandez "Author of Ning For Dummies" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    I arrived at "Designing Interfaces" with a hunger for detail and references as we head deep into revising the interface of a whole section of a web site I am in charge of. And the timing couldn't have been better. Jenifer (with one "n") Tidwell is right on the money when it comes to offering a broad range of options to address just about any interface design need you may run into. Her experience working with Matlab's Mathworks didn't limit her to offering advice for client software interface design. Tidwell goes well beyond it, delving into web design and mobile interface waters, which she swims with equal comfort and efficiency. As a matter of fact, at times the presentation of samples from alternate media/platforms (client software or mobile) pulls those of us who are more comfortable within web application development out of our comfort zone, presenting us with innovative ways to solve old problems. All in all, this becomes a must reference for anyone needing to learn or polish skills in software interface design for any medium. And this is not limited to designers: I am an Application Development Manager and I learned a lot from "Designing Interfaces" too.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Does What It Was Written To Do I had to get this book for one of my classes and I will admit it is not a book for experts in the field of "Designing Interfaces", but it's great for beginners and good for anyone... Read more Published 5 days ago by Ardit Veliu 5.0 out of 5 stars This book is great for anyone designing any type of interface Jenifer Tidwell, an interaction designer and software developer for The Mathworks, makes it easy for people from all different designing backgrounds (beginner to expert) to learn... Read more Published 1 month ago by J. Robinson 4.0 out of 5 stars Great foundation on interface design This is the second book I have bought about interface design and it is the best one to date. I really like how the book breaks down the sections by devices and subject matter. Read more Published 4 months ago by Scott L. Petrovic 2.0 out of 5 stars practically useless This book may be helpful to people who have never used a computer before, but there's really very little new information here. Read more Published 5 months ago by Kevin Frey 5.0 out of 5 stars Required for anyone involved in UI design Designing Interfaces is worth its weight in gold. The detail and thought that went into this book is outstanding. Read more Published 7 months ago by J. Constant 4.0 out of 5 stars A good reference and an easy read The book contained a lot of valuable information, especially for someone new to interface design or digital design in general. Read more Published 7 months ago by Michael Martin 3.0 out of 5 stars A dictionary for designers This book takes the form of a long list of design elements (e.g. trees and cascading lists), with examples and suggestions on when you should use them. And that's all. Read more Published 7 months ago by Trevor Burnham 5.0 out of 5 stars Visual examples for designing for Information Interchange This book is by far the best book that does for the User Interface world of computing what Edward R. Read more Published 13 months ago by Robert L. Marshall 4.0 out of 5 stars Should read if ,,, Nutshell review - If you design interfaces for any software project you should read this book. It covers all the bases, is extensive, comprehensive, well written and easy to use... Read more Published 14 months ago by Jos Pols 5.0 out of 5 stars A staple for your design library Designing Interfaces catalogs UI design patterns in use and provides guidance in using them, with plenty of examples. Read more Published 16 months ago by 2Sense Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 331 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; illustrated edition edition (November 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596008031
• ISBN-13: 978-0596008031
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #22,739 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #18 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Graphic Design > Website Architecture & Usability
  #33 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Software Design, Testing & Engineering > Object-Oriented Design
  #41 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Software Engineering > Information Systems

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

139 of 145 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A different kind of user interface design book, December 4, 2005

By	calvinnme "Texan refugee" (Fredericksburg, Va) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This book is different from most books on designing user interfaces since the ideas are presented as design patterns, much as you would see in Gamma's classic book on the subject had it been adapted to human-computer interfacing rather than programming. Each of the patterns and techniques presented in this book are intended to help the reader solve common design problems. Patterns and techniques are presented for web sites, desktop applications, and everything in between such as web forms, Flash, and applets. The user interface design patterns presented in this book are intended to be read by people who have some knowledge of UI design concepts and terminology: dialogs, selection, combo boxes, navigation bars, whitespace, branding, and so on. The book does not identify many widely-accepted techniques such as copy-and-paste, as it is assumed that you probably already know what this is. However, some common techniques are described here to encourage their use in other contexts -- for instance, desktop apps could make better use of Toplevel Navigation -- or to discuss them alongside alternative solutions. If you're running short on ideas, or hung up on a difficult design problem, skimming this book and its design patterns may help you produce a good solution.
Each pattern is presented with an image showing a possible implementation, a "Use When" section, a "Why" section, and a "How" section with very high level tool-independent implementation instructions. The patterns are organized into groups by function - organizing content, getting around, organizing the page, getting input from users, showing complex data, commands and action, direct manipulation, and stylistic elements.
I would highly recommend this logically structured book to anyone from programmer to graphic artist who might be involved in user interface design.

82 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Widgets and aesthetics, December 21, 2005

By	Brett Merkey (Palm Harbor, FL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is lavishly illustrated and fun to read. The sections are color-coded and there are few pages without at least one full-color illustration. So often, Web app team workers and managers get grey on grey and so often our output reflects that.

There are flow patterns, layout patterns, widget patterns galore. All good, but the chapter that gave me the most food for thought was the last, "Making It Look Good: Visual Style and Aesthetics." A Stanford study indicates that the most important factor in Web site credibility is the appearance of the site. This is probably also true of Web applications, but not in the same way. I have often had to go toe to toe with developers and executive managers who want to jazz things up with a far heavier, "more impressive" graphical treatment. VPs and marketers want something snazzy to show clients -- but they forget that someone who actually has to *use* an application in their workday may not find "snazzy" to be attractive at all.

Reading this chapter gave me more confidence that the choices in typography, color balance, contrast, and whitespace our teams arrived at through much effort have been correct and beneficial ones.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for designers..., November 8, 2006

By	Manny Hernandez "Author of Ning For Dummies" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

I arrived at "Designing Interfaces" with a hunger for detail and references as we head deep into revising the interface of a whole section of a web site I am in charge of. And the timing couldn't have been better. Jenifer (with one "n") Tidwell is right on the money when it comes to offering a broad range of options to address just about any interface design need you may run into. Her experience working with Matlab's Mathworks didn't limit her to offering advice for client software interface design.

Tidwell goes well beyond it, delving into web design and mobile interface waters, which she swims with equal comfort and efficiency. As a matter of fact, at times the presentation of samples from alternate media/platforms (client software or mobile) pulls those of us who are more comfortable within web application development out of our comfort zone, presenting us with innovative ways to solve old problems.

All in all, this becomes a must reference for anyone needing to learn or polish skills in software interface design for any medium. And this is not limited to designers: I am an Application Development Manager and I learned a lot from "Designing Interfaces" too.