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Simple and Usable Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design
- By Giles Colborne
- Published Sep 16, 2010 by New Riders. Part of the Voices That Matter series.
- Copyright 2011
- Dimensions: 6" x 9"
- Pages: 208
- Edition: 1st
- Book
- ISBN-10: 0-321-70354-5
- ISBN-13: 978-0-321-70354-5
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In a complex world, products that are easy to use win favor with consumers. This is the first book on the topic of simplicity aimed specifically at interaction designers. It shows how to drill down and simplify user experiences when designing digital tools and applications. It begins by explaining why simplicity is attractive, explores the laws of simplicity, and presents proven strategies for achieving simplicity. Remove, hide, organize and displace become guidelines for designers, who learn simplicity by seeing before and after examples and case studies where the results speak for themselves.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
An approachable, practical guide to achieving simplicity, By
This review is from: Simple and Usable Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design (Voices That Matter) (Paperback)
We've all been frustrated by a gadget, from trying to install a printer to spending hours setting up a new mobile phone. Page one of Simple and Usable points out that: "[The] Technology that is supposed to make our lives easier often feels like it's on the march against us." What then is the antidote to confusing products, software, and web sites? The answer is--as one might guess from the title of the book--simplicity.Simple and Usable is both an extremely approachable and an incredibly practical guide to simplicity. Author Giles Colborne compelling shares four fundamental strategies for accomplishing simplicity: remove, organize, hide, and displace. First, figure out the most important tasks of mainstream users, and make those tasks really easy to accomplish. Then, kill all the features that aren't core. From limiting choice, to eliminating distraction, to using smart defaults, Giles offers many tangible tactics for reducing complexity. But just... Read more
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Well done for an introduction or a review of important points, By
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This review is from: Simple and Usable Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design (Voices That Matter) (Paperback)
I am impressed with this book on several counts.1. The content combines succinct mini-chapters with gorgeous and complementary images. 2. The quality of the paper stock, the book's information design, and the overall package is top notch. 3. I learned a couple new things despite having been around the profession for a while. 4. The focus is not on one particular type of product. I don't think the book is all things to all people and I suspect it was not meant to be. A seasoned UX professional may not learn a lot from it, but this is a good book for students and for business people who might need an introduction to good user experience research and design principles. For the experienced UX person, I think the book could be a good review of some key precepts that sometimes might seem distant in the day-to-day rush of getting things done. I do wish there were footnotes to the interesting research studies the author sometimes refers to in the... Read more
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
My new favorite give-away, By
This review is from: Simple and Usable Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design (Voices That Matter) (Paperback)
There is a short list of books that I recommend when asked "What book should I read in order to understand what you do?" This is it! I already own two copies. It's so intelligently broken down that it's very quotable. The only thing that would make it better would be quick reference tabs but that would ruin the aesthetic.
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Online Sample Chapter
Simple and Usable Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design: Remove
Table of Contents
Part 1
Why are we here?
A story about simplicity
The power of simplicity
Increasing complexity is unsustainable
Not that kind of simple
Character
Fake simplicity
Know yourself
Part 2
Setting a vision
Two ways to describe what’s core
Get out of your office
What to look for
Three types of user
Why you should ignore expert customers
Design for the mainstream
What mainstreamers want
Emotional needs
Simplicity is about control
Choosing the right “what”
Describing the user experience
Putting it all together
World, character, Extreme usability
The quick and dirty way
Insight
Getting the right vision
Share it
Part 3
Four strategies for simplicity
Simplify this
The remote control
The four strategies
Part 4
Remove
Remove
How not to do it
Focus on what’s core
Kill lame features
What if the user…?
But our customers want it
Solutions, not processes
When features don’t matter
Will it hurt?
Prioritizing features Load Decisions
Distractions
Smart defaults
Options and preferences
When one option is too many
Errors
Visual clutter
Removing words
Simplifying sentences
Removing too much
You can do it
Focus
Part 5
Organize
Organize
Chunking
Organizing for behavior
Hard edges
Alphabets and formats
Search
Time and space
Grids
Size and location Layers
Color coding
Desire paths
Part 6
Hide
Hide
Infrequent but necessary
Customizing
Automatic customization
Progressive disclosure
Staged disclosure
X doesn’t mark the spot
Cues and clues
Making things easy to find
After you hide
Part 7
Displace
Displace
Displacing between devices
Mobile vs. desktop
Displacing to the user
What users do best
Creating open experiences
Kitchen knives and pianos
Unstructured data
Trust
Part 8
Before we go
Conservation of complexity
Details
Simplicity happens in the user’s head
Photo Credits 186
Index 189
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