The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design (Paperback)

by Brenda Laurel (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The classic Art of Human-Computer Interface Design is one book that isn't filled with code samples but is nonetheless a thought-provoking resource for developers. The book is a collection of essays from industry luminaries such as Alan Kay, Nicholas Negroponte, and Ted Nelson. Don't expect to read it for hard-and-fast advice on solving your programming problems, but do expect to gain new perspectives on how your users view your applications and what they expect from a computer.

Product Description
A treasury of ideas and opinions from leading thinkers in the computer industry, 'Art of Human-Computer Interface Design' delves into the strategies, reasoning, and future direction of human-computer interaction and the overall relationship between computers and people.

This book started as an interior project at Apple, then grew into a more diversified attempt to survey the varied philosophies, design methods, and technological approaches that have recently evolved. It draws on essays from interface design specialists, as well as works by those involved with drama and narrative, industrial design, animation, and cognitive and interpersonal psychology.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (January 11, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201517973
• ISBN-13: 978-0201517972
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #440,917 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but Macintosh-centric and dated, June 1, 1999

By A Customer

Don't get me wrong, this book has a lot to offer: 500+ pages of it! But it was written in 1990 and it shows.

Almost everyone who has written a paper for this collection has some link to Macintosh (except for Timothy Leary of course). All examples are Macintosh based. And we're not talking G3's here. We're talking Mac II's.

No mention is made of the Web (how could it be?). It does, however, make a lot of good points that are applicable for all User Interface designs.

So, in general, this is a good book for it's time, but it's time has well and truly passed.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dated, but still very valuable, April 19, 2000

By	C. Gilbert "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

It's time for this book to be re-collected and updated, I think. Parts of it (particularly the essays grouped under 'Creativity and Design' and 'Users and Contexts') are very useful for today's interface design world. However there are sections (particularly the section on 'New Directions') where it feels *very* dated and really suffers from being written before Internet time.

An extremely impressive group of writers participates. Including: Howard Rheingold, Don Norman, Bruce Tognazzini, Nicholas Negroponte, Alan Kay, Timothy Leary and Gitta Salomon. It's definitely worth a read, but don't be afraid (unless you're a Macintosh history buff) to skip large sections.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An oldie but a goodie, February 8, 2000

By	Ian Grant "grant_ian" (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews

This tome is older - there's no getting around that. However, we don't throw out calculus because it is old. This book contains the principals of interface design, and they still apply. (I didn't like the binding, my copy having fallen apart after about 5 or 6 years of use). It is always a refreshing and lively read - even after the eleventeenth read!