About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design

About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design

  • Downloads:4695
  • Type:Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date:2021-08-09 06:54:01
  • Update Date:2025-09-06
  • Status:finish
  • Author:Alan Cooper
  • ISBN:1118766571
  • Environment:PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Summary

The three editions of "About Face" have shaped and evolved the landscape of interaction design, bringing it from the research labs into every day lexicon and development。 The fourth edition of this groundbreaking book will be no less game changing。

The 4th edition of "About Face "is the most significant revision yet, with a new unique design and 4-color interior, dedicated web site, and classroom ancillaries。 The revision takes into account the worldwide shift to smartphones and tablets on the consumer and enterprise level and how designing for these devices is not as easy as just downsizing a website。

The new edition includes: Dynamic 4-color interiorUpdates to reflect new thinking in interface, interaction and product design methodsNew content relevant to the popularization of mobile platforms and differing screen sizesEvolving design in platforms such as consumer electronics and other ubiquitous devicesUpdated examples to reflect current state-of-the-art interfaces and up to date case studiesUpdates to Cooper's immensely popular Goal-Directed Design methodologyFull training and classroom materials for corporate trainings or university textsDedicated website created by Cooper to complement the examples and instruction in the book

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Reviews

Lee

My first book that I decided to buy to learn more about UX and interaction design。 Thought it may make you want to sleep when you read it, but I got a lot of knowledge and overview as well as detailed explanation。 It’s very helpful for a beginner in the field like me! I just hope there will be more examples or case studies。

Gary Merrill

Cooper basically created the field of user interface and user interaction design。 This is a "must read" in these areas。 Cooper basically created the field of user interface and user interaction design。 This is a "must read" in these areas。 。。。more

Oliver

I totally agree that this book is too long。 The same information would have fitted on far less pages。 And it is no easy read also。 It took me quite some time to get through it (originally the 2nd edition to be precise)。 But nevertheless it is an extremely valuable source of information and inspiration concerning user experience design。 First of all this is the goal directed design process that is explained in detail。 But on top of that are many other interesting topics that are discussed, like i I totally agree that this book is too long。 The same information would have fitted on far less pages。 And it is no easy read also。 It took me quite some time to get through it (originally the 2nd edition to be precise)。 But nevertheless it is an extremely valuable source of information and inspiration concerning user experience design。 First of all this is the goal directed design process that is explained in detail。 But on top of that are many other interesting topics that are discussed, like implementation model vs。 mental model, mapping or excise (what Cooper calls everything that does not help the user reach her goal)。 For me it’s the most comprehensive book on the topic that I know and I often find myself returning to it。 。。。more

Hiran Venugopalan

A must-read。

Maggie

A foundational read for learning what exactly makes digital products/software "user-friendly" -- not only for designers。 Can be dense, but the information is worthwhile; it's interesting to see how this edition has aged, but many of its principles (e。g。 direct manipulation, goal-directed design, the power of idioms over metaphors & implementation-based design, etc。) continue to hold true for intuitive software UI design。 A foundational read for learning what exactly makes digital products/software "user-friendly" -- not only for designers。 Can be dense, but the information is worthwhile; it's interesting to see how this edition has aged, but many of its principles (e。g。 direct manipulation, goal-directed design, the power of idioms over metaphors & implementation-based design, etc。) continue to hold true for intuitive software UI design。 。。。more

Toters App Library

Amazing book about UX。。 talks about concepts that every UX designer should know such as personas, prototyping etc。

Autumn Kotsiuba

“Significant change must be significantly better。”Full disclosure, I skimmed。 Some good ideas in here, and I've heard that Cooper's work really laid the foundation for tech design。 There are shorter, more consumable books out now, but it was neat to interact with an "original。" “Significant change must be significantly better。”Full disclosure, I skimmed。 Some good ideas in here, and I've heard that Cooper's work really laid the foundation for tech design。 There are shorter, more consumable books out now, but it was neat to interact with an "original。" 。。。more

Mythreyi

It's one of those good index books。 You pick up for reference and it's has a thought starter on any topic that might cross your mind。 I wish it had more examples of application but it's a good book to read early on。 Especially as a non designer peeking into the subject matter。It's not too creative like some design books get。 As someone who like th HCI Way of looking at interaction, this is a nice in between。 It's one of those good index books。 You pick up for reference and it's has a thought starter on any topic that might cross your mind。 I wish it had more examples of application but it's a good book to read early on。 Especially as a non designer peeking into the subject matter。It's not too creative like some design books get。 As someone who like th HCI Way of looking at interaction, this is a nice in between。 。。。more

Kris

Za mě je nejcennější hlavně první část o projektovém řízení při designu a průzkumu。 Poslední část co se věnuje vyloženě příkladům digitálního UX je dnes už trošku zaprášená, ale pokud stavíte nějaký program na zelené louce, může se hodit。

Weiwei

A good Toolbox for interaction design。 A lot of concepts and methods at hand。

Blake Williford

A staple but very dated in my opinion。 Read "Elements of UX" by Jesse James Garrett for a more timeless approach to designing user experiences。 A staple but very dated in my opinion。 Read "Elements of UX" by Jesse James Garrett for a more timeless approach to designing user experiences。 。。。more

Taalib Minhas

This is an absolute must read for anyone designing digital products

Emanuel Serbanoiu

It took me a while to read this book but felt that it propelled me to the next level (even after 6 years of being a designer)。 The most important lessons for me were about personas, pliancy, idioms, and excise。 Throughout the book, I found lots of great explanations and many great points of view that will come in handy for me in the future。I would recommend this to any designer with more than 2 years in the field。Definitely a book that is worth reviewing once in a while。

Tan Isn

1)Модель реализации -как работает программа под капотом。 Ментальная модель -как пользователь воспринимает свои задачи и как программа помогает ему в этом。Модель представления - как преподносят работу программы пользователю。Основная задача проектировщика- максимально приблизить модель представления к ментальной модели пользователя。

Sashko Valyus

Перечитую класикуОдин з гранітів які треба прогризти дизайнерам на шляху до професійного росту。 600+ відлякують спочатку, але воно варте до останньої сторінки。 Описаний повний процес дизайну продукту, від інтерв'ю до дизайн алертів。 Книга з абсолютно без води, часом навіть прикладів не дуже вистачає і деякі речі описуються поверхнево。 Мабуть якщо все розглядати в деталях вона легко розпухне в 4 рази, тоді книгу треба буде продавати по томах :)。 Абсолютний маст рід для дизайнерів і рерід для досв Перечитую класикуОдин з гранітів які треба прогризти дизайнерам на шляху до професійного росту。 600+ відлякують спочатку, але воно варте до останньої сторінки。 Описаний повний процес дизайну продукту, від інтерв'ю до дизайн алертів。 Книга з абсолютно без води, часом навіть прикладів не дуже вистачає і деякі речі описуються поверхнево。 Мабуть якщо все розглядати в деталях вона легко розпухне в 4 рази, тоді книгу треба буде продавати по томах :)。 Абсолютний маст рід для дизайнерів і рерід для досвідчених, речі сприймаються по різному на різних етапах професійного розвитку。 。。。more

Charlie Höglin

Informative, useful! Sometimes lightens up the mood with jokesy image captions, but could stand to add a few more since it gets quite dense at times。 For a theory book it is still not too bad denseness-wise。

Arnold Petersen

Welcome update to the edition 2 with much fresher views and of course revised topics with more insights however the second half of the book does not maintain the same quality and substance。 I personally felt that it's lacking references to some of the rules discussed in the book, I will however recommend to any UX practitioner as it's a must read to be honest。 Welcome update to the edition 2 with much fresher views and of course revised topics with more insights however the second half of the book does not maintain the same quality and substance。 I personally felt that it's lacking references to some of the rules discussed in the book, I will however recommend to any UX practitioner as it's a must read to be honest。 。。。more

Iván Frantar

A bible you should keep handy if you are a product designer/manager/owner or developer building digital products。 Never read this book cover to cover, but I had it for years and always come to it for some nuggets of expertise。

Jesse Hammond

Lengthy read but contains lots and lots information down to the specifics。 Worth the read

Mandy

This book needs to take its own advice and design a better interaction with the book itself。 Heading levels weren't distinct enough for me, there was a reference to a previous cover, and the tone/writing was somewhat uneven but mostly 。。。 curmudgeonly。 I can't tell you how many people asked me what "Abo UTF Ace" even was just from glancing at the cover。 However, the authors do make up for it with lots of valuable information - this is a pretty great introduction to Interaction Design; aside from This book needs to take its own advice and design a better interaction with the book itself。 Heading levels weren't distinct enough for me, there was a reference to a previous cover, and the tone/writing was somewhat uneven but mostly 。。。 curmudgeonly。 I can't tell you how many people asked me what "Abo UTF Ace" even was just from glancing at the cover。 However, the authors do make up for it with lots of valuable information - this is a pretty great introduction to Interaction Design; aside from the problems noted above, I only with it gave more evidence for the advice & choices within its pages beyond the experiential - show me some studies, tell my why this works cognitively better than that, etc。 。。。more

Kane Rogers

Long and a bit rambling, but some good stuff in there。

Summa Smiff

The main thesis of the book, which is that the ultimate success of interaction design is how well it helps users accomplish their goals, is both obviously true but also lacking in many other design books。 About Face 3 has several chapters on how to research and identify user goals, explaining the persona model better than most。 The rest of the book covers how to create interfaces for those personas, avoiding long lectures on typography in favor of thinking of the design holistically from the per The main thesis of the book, which is that the ultimate success of interaction design is how well it helps users accomplish their goals, is both obviously true but also lacking in many other design books。 About Face 3 has several chapters on how to research and identify user goals, explaining the persona model better than most。 The rest of the book covers how to create interfaces for those personas, avoiding long lectures on typography in favor of thinking of the design holistically from the perspective of a new, intermediate, or expert user。 The book does a good job approaching design from a broad perspective as well as giving helpful advice for small granular details such as the usefulness of a toolbar versus a menu。 。。。more

Cedd

This has some useful high level points in it, but for me it would be better if it was about half the size。 A lot of the pages are taken up describing well known idioms, and less with proposing examples of how to do things well。It is primarily aimed at big budget software, with a large design team (as opposed to the small team that I work in, that has no designers)。

Amufwa Ndalo

a good book。 Useful information if practiced。

Matthew

The most exhaustive book I've read on design, would skip the latter third of the book。 What was most useful is the process of design and the principles of design which can obviously be improved on but at the core is timeless。 The most exhaustive book I've read on design, would skip the latter third of the book。 What was most useful is the process of design and the principles of design which can obviously be improved on but at the core is timeless。 。。。more

Mr

didn't even finish it completely。 I read like 70% of it。 It has a few nuggest but LOTS of kak。 It's really not what I expected。 Starting to think that non-fiction non-biography books that are over 200 pages long are often poorly written。 Eish。。 Ai。 I expected more after reading The Inmates Are Running The Asylum didn't even finish it completely。 I read like 70% of it。 It has a few nuggest but LOTS of kak。 It's really not what I expected。 Starting to think that non-fiction non-biography books that are over 200 pages long are often poorly written。 Eish。。 Ai。 I expected more after reading The Inmates Are Running The Asylum 。。。more

Jules C

The first portion describing design process was enlightening in that he identified many issues I've encountered in real life。 I would've preferred this portion alone to be separated into its own book, along with case studies illustrating his ideas instead。 Overall, the book covers many topics that designers should be aware of but falls short in actually explaining how to apply such methods。 I find it a bit too academic and vague to be useful on real projects。 Nevertheless, it's a good primer for The first portion describing design process was enlightening in that he identified many issues I've encountered in real life。 I would've preferred this portion alone to be separated into its own book, along with case studies illustrating his ideas instead。 Overall, the book covers many topics that designers should be aware of but falls short in actually explaining how to apply such methods。 I find it a bit too academic and vague to be useful on real projects。 Nevertheless, it's a good primer for designers to be aware of current tools and trends。 。。。more

Ranjith

An exceptionally comprehensive knowledgebase for anyone who needs to have a tighter grip on User Centered Design process。 Would recommend this to Experience Design enthusiasts in any level of expertise

Carl Gauger

This is an amazing book。 If you are involved in Interface Design at any level, I don't see how you can live without this book--or at least having read it once。 There is a newer edition out, but there is enough value in the earlier ones that, if you can pick them up cheap and used, it will be well worth your money and time。 It is a real hands-on book--with enough high-level thoughts and enough street-level application to make anyone happy--especially the users of your product。 The appendix alone, This is an amazing book。 If you are involved in Interface Design at any level, I don't see how you can live without this book--or at least having read it once。 There is a newer edition out, but there is enough value in the earlier ones that, if you can pick them up cheap and used, it will be well worth your money and time。 It is a real hands-on book--with enough high-level thoughts and enough street-level application to make anyone happy--especially the users of your product。 The appendix alone, which summarizes all the principles and rules used throughout the text--is worth the price of purchase many time over。 You can buy a used copy of 2。0 for 5 bucks! 。。。more

Ugam Kumar

This is a comprehensive book on Product design。 It explains how one should go from ideation phase to making high fidelity designs。 Highly recommended!