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Review of Designing the User Interface, 5th Ed. |
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Book Review: Designing the User Interface (4th Edition)
By , SAP User Experience, SAP AG – January 16, 2006
This review takes a personal look at Ben Shneiderman's and Cathérine Plaisant's book Designing the User Interface.
Book
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Ben Shneiderman & Cathérine Plaisant Usability: UI design |
Authors
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 Cathérine
Plaisant, Doctorat d’Ingénieur 1982, is
an associate research scientist at the University of Maryland, United States. |
Review
Intention
Throughout their professional careers, both scientists have accompanied the emerging discipline of human-computer interaction. In this new edition of their classic textbook, Shneiderman and Plaisant share authorship. They intend to promote the design of effective interfaces that enable users to fulfill their tasks while avoiding the many pitfalls that cause user frustration.
Target Group
The book is intended for students, instructors, designers and researchers of interactive systems coming from such diverse backgrounds as computer science, psychology, industrial engineering, technical writing, communications and media, graphic design, and education.
Contents
The book is divided into four sections:
- Introduction
Usability of Interactive Systems, with Guidelines, Principles and Theories - Development Process
Managing Design Processes, including the topic Scenario Development
Evaluating Interface Designs, including the topics Expert Reviews, Usability Testing and Acceptance Test
Software Tools - Interaction Styles
Direct Manipulation
Menus, Forms, and Dialog Boxes, including the topics Task-Relation, Content Organization, and Data Entry - Design Issues
Service Quality, including the topics Time, User Expectations, and User Productivity
Graphic Design
Manuals and Help
Information Search
Structure
Each chapter begins with a short introduction and definition of the topic. The subchapters are well-structured and not overly extensive, and the text is comprehensible, even for non-native speakers of English. There are numerous examples and a large amount of interesting color graphics (charts, sketches, photos, screenshots…) supports the text well and helps prevent fatigue while reading. Bulleted or numbered lists, for overviews or guidelines, for example, allow for effective skimming.
A two-level index of approximately 1,200 entries, a table of contents in abbreviated and extended form, and a "Practitioner's Summary" briefly outlining each chapter's content make the book a handy reference for everyday use. Each chapter offers a list of reference materials, including classic and more recent books. (Note: The book reflects Anglo-American research: the reference materials cited were almost exclusively published in the United States.)
Opinion
Most interesting for practical use may be the section "Design Issues," which covers critical design questions that determine an interface's user-friendliness.
The more reflective passages in the introduction and afterword deserve the reader's attention, especially chapter A.2, "Ten Plagues of the Information Age." Here the authors point to underlying issues, that is, social alienation, impotence of the individual, unemployment and displacement, invasion of privacy, and the vulnerability of organizations – well worth second thoughts.
Recommendation
Interesting and comprehensible, the book provides a thorough and well-written introduction for newcomers who need an overview of human-computer interaction. While it is not intended for experts, professionals wishing to refresh their knowledge on specific subjects may also find it helpful.
