Tog on Interface (Paperback)

by Bruce Tognazzini (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
From one of the foremost authorities on the design of user interfaces, this unique collection of ideas and opinions, while focusing on the Macintosh, neatly captures the underlying principles of all graphical user interfaces. Using ideas from such diverse sources as Information Theory, Carl Jung, and even professional beekeeping, the book provides a framework for achieving a deep understanding of user interface design.

With humor and thought-provoking insights, Bruce Tognazzini explores the central issues of human-computer interaction, including the challenges presented by multimedia applications, agents, virtual reality, and future technologies. Drawn from his long experience of working with developers, the book provides practical guidelines for developing successful applications that users will find simple, clear, and consistent.

"Tog on Interface" is fascinating reading for all those concerned with the relationship between people and computers.

From the Back Cover
"Tog on Interface is a report from the front lines of interface design, full of anecdotes and useful tips. I recommend it for anybody who cares about personal computing."
- Stewart Alsop, Editor-in-Chief, InfoWorld

"If you work with graphical user interfaces, no matter what form or religion, you had better read this book."
- Don Norman, author of The Design of Everyday Things and Turn Signals Are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles

"Tog's book is a must-read. It's chock-full of intuitive insights and practical technical examples. My favorite story is why people walk into their furniture after going on camping trips. You'll have to read the book to find out the reason!"
- Roger von Oech, Author of A Whack on the Side of the Head and developer of "The Creative Whack Pack"

From one of the foremost authorities on the design of user interfaces, this unique collection of ideas and opinions, while focusing on the Macintosh, neatly captures the underlying principles of all graphical user interfaces. Using ideas from such diverse sources as Information Theory, Carl Jung, and even professional beekeeping, the book provides a framework for achieving a deep understanding of user interface design.

With humor and thought-provoking insights, Bruce Tognazzini explores the central issues of human-computer interaction, including the challenges presented by multimedia applications, agents, virtual reality, and future technologies. Drawn from his long experience of working with developers, the book provides practical guidelines for developing successful applications that users will find simple, clear, and consistent.

Tog on Interface is fascinating reading for all those concerned with the relationship between people and computers.

0201608421B04062001

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (January 24, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201608421
• ISBN-13: 978-0201608427
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #140,165 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rock-solid principles; half of an essential reference pair., February 23, 1997

By A Customer

This is mostly a collection of Tognazzini's engagingly-written Macintosh software developer newsletter columns. Tog draws from greatly varying sources -- among them information theory, Jungian psychology, and Apple's extensive user testing -- and presents a deep, broad view of interface design as an unending process. The book is as Mac-centric as Alan Cooper's "About Face" is Windows-centric, but like Cooper, Tog isn't beyond criticizing his native OS.

Tog focuses on ways of thinking about human-computer interaction, using particular examples only to illustrate principles -- not outright dictating what an interface should look like. A few of his examples from the Mac OS are a little outdated (some of his columns were written before System 7), but those details are instructive in themselves when you examine their contrast to the current Mac OS in light of his principles, which are rock solid.

Tog and Cooper should be on every interface designer's shelf -- not one or the other, but BOTH.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great, but somewhat sheltered, writing, May 5, 2004

By	Christopher Coakley (Santa Barbara, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a big fan of AskTog, so I bought this book. Some of the information is a bit dated (and relates specifically to the old Macintosh), but much of it is sound design principles expressed informally (and in a readable way).

The presentation of the material is great. Even flipping quickly through the pages should turn up useful nuggets. If you have an interest in design evolution, this is a good read. If you want some good design principles easily explained, this is a good read. Many of his stories are condensed down into bolded, bulleted "rules" of design.

The one thing I didn't like about the book: Tog lives in a sheltered reality. If research shows something he disagrees with, he calls it bad research. If research supports his ideas, it is quickly pointed out as solid evidence. It is very important to read anything by Tog with a critical (but open) mind. Not all of his ideas have stood the test of time.

All things considered, this book is worth reading for developers and designers of any Visual Interface (Tog explains his distaste for the term "Graphical User Interface").

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Early Mac newsletter clippings, February 28, 2002

By	Bob Carpenter (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

Diving into "Tog on Interface", a collection of Apple Macintosh developer newsletter column reprints, provides the same guilty pleasure as finding a stack of fifty year old technical magazines. Clearly, there was an audience somewhere, and a dialogue going on, and interesting topics being discussed. But, oh it seems so long ago and what are all those strange mechanical devices they're referring to? On closer study, the second analogy that comes to mind is the Europe-in-7-days package; Tognazzini touches on almost every conceivable topic, if only to drop a reference here or tie in a point there. The comments are usually on target, but left me seeking answers that were deeper and less flippant. This book is riddled with the author's humor and point of view; if you find attempted cuteness or a stream of in-jokes annoying, steer clear.

I bought this book after devouring Tognazzini's well regarded web interface design site, which left me wanting more. I didn't get it in this book, but did find what I was looking for in other books on the topic of interface design: Jeff Johnson's "GUI Bloopers", which is organized like Tog's web site, Alan Cooper's Windows-centric rant "About Face" and Jef Raskin's Mac and Canon Cat dominated "The Humane Interface".