About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design

MASTERING INTERACTION DESIGN FOR NEW DEVICES AND INTERFACES. The first three editions of About Face shaped the evolution of interaction design, bringing it from development shops and research labs into the everyday language of product marketing, design and development. This fourth edition, the most significant revision yet, features a stunning new design and a full color interior. Addressing the many changes in the design landscape since its last publication, this new edition includes interaction methods and strategies for touchscreen phones and tablets, as well as updated chapters for the web and for desktop applications. THIS NEW EDITION FEATURES Updated interaction design principles, patterns, and practices New content relevant to mobile platforms and differing screen sizes Updated examples reflecting current state–of–the–art interfaces The latest iteration of Coopers popular Goal–Directed Design methodology

Foreword xv Introduction  xix PART I: Goal–Directed Design 1 CH 1: A Design Process for Digital Products 3 The Consequences of Poor Product Behavior  4 Why Digital Products Fail 6 Planning and Designing Product Behavior 10 Recognizing User Goals 13 Implementation Models and Mental Models 16 An Overview of Goal–Directed Design  21 CH 2: Understanding the Problem: Design Research 31 Qualitative versus Quantitative Data in Design Research 32 Goal–Directed Design Research 36 Interviewing and Observing Users  44 Other Types of Qualitative Research  56 Research Is Critical to Good Design 59 CH 3: Modeling Users: Personas and Goals 61 Why Model?  61 The Power of Personas 62 Why Personas Are Effective  66 Understanding Goals 72 Constructing Personas 81 Personas in Practice  93 Other Design Models  98 CH 4: Setting the Vision: Scenarios and Design Requirements 101 Bridging the Research–Design Gap  101 Scenarios: Narrative as a Design Tool 102 Design Requirements: The “What” of Interaction 106 The Requirements Definition Process  109 CH 5: Designing the Product: Framework and Refinement    119 Creating the Design Framework 119 Refining the Form and Behavior 137 Validating and Testing the Design 139 CH 6: Creative Teamwork     145 Small, Focused Teams  146 Thinking Better, Together 146 Working across Design Disciplines 153 The Extended Team 155 Establishing a Creative Culture  161 Identifying Skill Levels in Designers 162 Collaboration Is the Key 163 Part II: Making Well–Behaved Products 165 CH 7: A Basis for Good Product Behavior 167 Design Values 167 Interaction Design Principles 173 Interaction Design Patterns 174 CH 8: Digital Etiquette 179 Designing Considerate Products  180 Designing Smart Products 190 Designing Social Products  199 CH 9: Platform and Posture  205 Product Platforms 205 Product Postures  206 Postures for the Desktop    207 Postures for the Web  218 Postures for Mobile Devices 225 Postures for Other Platforms  230 Give Your Apps Good Posture 235 CH 10: Optimizing for Intermediates   237 Perpetual Intermediates  238 Inflecting the Interface  240 Designing for Three Levels of Experience 243 CH 11: Orchestration and Flow 249 Flow and Transparency 249 Orchestration  250 Harmonious Interactions 251 Motion, Timing, and Transitions 266 The Ideal of Effortlessness  269 CH 12: Reducing Work and Eliminating Excise    271 Goal–Directed Tasks versus Excise Tasks 272 Types of Excise  273 Excise Is Contextual  285 Eliminating Excise 285 Other Common Excise Traps  297 CH 13: Metaphors, Idioms, and Affordances 299 Interface Paradigms  300 Building Idioms  310 Manual Affordances  312 Direct Manipulation and Pliancy 315 Escape the Grip of Metaphor  322 CH 14: Rethinking Data Entry, Storage, and Retrieval 325 Rethinking Data Entry  326 Rethinking Data Storage  332 Rethinking Data Retrieval  345 CH 15: Preventing Errors and Informing Decisions   357 Using Rich Modeless Feedback  358 Undo, Redo, and Reversible Histories 363 What If: Compare and Preview 376 CH 16: Designing for Different Needs   379 Learnability and Help  379 Customizability  395 Localization and Globalization  398 Accessibility  399 CH 17: Integrating Visual Design 405 Visual Art and Visual Design 405 The Elements of Visual Interface Design 406 Visual Interface Design Principles  411 Visual Information Design Principles 425 Consistency and Standards  428 Part III: Interaction Details 433 CH 18: Designing for the Desktop      435 Anatomy of a Desktop App 436 Windows on the Desktop  439 Menus  448 Toolbars, Palettes, and Sidebars 455 Pointing, Selection, and Direct Manipulation 465 CH 19: Designing for Mobile and Other Devices    507 Anatomy of a Mobile App 508 Mobile Navigation, Content, and Control Idioms 518 Multi–Touch Gestures 550 Inter–App Integration  553 Other Devices  555 CH 20: Designing for the Web 569 Page–Based interactions 571 The Mobile Web 585 The Future  587 CH 21: Design Details: Controls and Dialogs 589 Controls 589 Dialogs  625 Eliminating Errors, Alerts, and Confirmations  641 The Devil Is in the Details  653 APPEN DIX A: Design Principles 655 APPEN DIX B: Bibliography    661 Index  667

ABOUT THE AUTHORS ALAN COOPER is a founder of Cooper and a pioneer of modern computing. His groundbreaking work has influenced a generation of programmers, business people, and users. ROBERT REIMANN was founding president of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA). He is Principal Interaction Designer at PatientsLikeMe, and former Director of Design RD at Cooper. DAVID CRONIN is a Design Director at GE. He was also Director of Interaction Design at Smart Design, and a former Managing Director at Cooper. CHRISTOPHER NOESSEL is Coopers first Design Fellow, and the co–author of Make It So . He teaches and speaks about design all over the world.