A fascinating collection of mini-essays reflecting on the technology around us. It is fun to read and beautifully laid out. -- Abigail Sellen (Microsoft Research)
I enjoyed your Real World Column; we need more of these to demonstrate the impact of design on everyday people. -- Don Norman
It is great that Lon Barfield has collected the columns – and added to them – to create this book. -- Steven Pemberton (Editor in chief 'Interactions Magazine')
Product Description
Ten years ago the author started writing the popular ‘Real World’ column for the SIGCHI bulletin (the ACM magazine for interaction designers). It was a column observing everyday interactions in both real and digital environments.
This book contains fifty of those columns, covering such fundamental topics as:
– Switching things on and off
– Choosing correct terminology for interfaces
– Volume controls
– Annoying sounds coming from alarm-clocks
– Making the ideal slice of toast
They have been gathered together, along with extra sections on observing the real world and a number of new columns. The book is both entertaining and enlightening. Lecturers will find it a good supplement to any course dealing with designing for people, while industrial and digital designers can learn from the observations and insights it contains. The content is an inspirational resource for interaction designers, web designers, architects, industrial designers and anybody who has ever said ‘Who on earth designed that?!’
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