Product Description

The classic text, Interaction Design by Sharp, Preece and Rogers is back in a fantastic new 2^nd Edition!

New to this edition:

• Completely updated to include new chapters on Interfaces, Data Gathering and Data Analysis and Interpretation, the latest information from recent research findings and new examples
• Now in full colour
• A lively and highly interactive Web site that will enable students to collaborate on experiments, compete in design competitions, collaborate on designs, find resources and communicate with others
• A new practical and process-oriented approach showing not just what principals ought to apply, but crucially how they can be applied

"The best basis around for user-centered interaction design, both as a primer for students as an introduction to the field, and as a resource for research practitioners to fall back on. It should be labelled 'start here'."
—Pieter Jan Stappers, ID-StudioLab, Delft University of Technology

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37791 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 800 pages

Review
"The best basis around for user-centered interaction design, both as a primer for students as an introduction to the field, and as a resource for research practitioners to fall back on. It should be labelled 'start here'." Pieter Jan Stappers, ID-StudioLab, Delft University of Technology -- Amazon.com

Review
"The best basis around for user-centered interaction design, both as a primer for students as an introduction to the field, and as a resource for research practitioners to fall back on. It should be labelled 'start here'."
—Pieter Jan Stappers, ID-StudioLab, Delft University of Technology

In the field of Interaction Design one book stands out, a book that has established itself at the core of the field. With this new edition, the authors have successfully strengthened that position. The new structure and content makes the book highly relevant and needed in the field. Anyone who wants to learn about the basics of interaction design should make this book their first stop!"
—Erik Stolterman, Ph.D., Indiana University, USA

This new edition of Interaction Design is a welcome and timely support for those of us teaching and researching in the field. It fills in the gaps that were emerging in the first edition as new interactive technologies become available and older ones change so much. I value this text for the way it is so grounded in real examples and actual human practices, and for its strong design focus. It is a most useful and usable book.
—Dr Toni Robertson, Interaction Design and Work Practice Lab, University of Technology, Sydney

"The first edition of Interaction Design has been my text book of choice for general HCI courses at both undergraduate and Masters level for several years. It is authoritative, eminently readable and thought-provoking for students. It achieves a good balance between the human, computing and design aspects of the subject. The second edition strengthens the treatment of data gathering and analysis and approaches to evaluation, and introduces a welcome focus on affective aspects of interaction, reflecting recent research developments in the discipline. I am looking forward to working with this new edition."
—Ann Blandford, Director of UCL Interaction Centre and Professor of Human–Computer Interaction

"An exceptional book that helps bring design thinking and a human perspective to the conceptualization and development of technology-based products and systems."
—Bill Buxton, Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research

From the Back Cover
There has never been a greater need for interaction designers and usability engineers to develop current and next-generation interactive technologies. To be successful they will need a mixed set of skills drawn from psychology, human-computer interaction, web design, computer science, information systems, and entertainment.

Interaction Design: beyond human-computer interaction, 2^nd edition covers a wide range of issues, topics, and paradigms that go beyond the traditional scope of human-computer interaction (HCI). Using state-of-the-art examples, it covers psychological and social aspects of users, interaction styles, user requirements, design approaches, usability and evaluation, traditional and future interface paradigms, and the role of theory in informing design. Topics are grounded in the design process and presented in an integrated and coherent way. The book focuses on how to design interactive products that enhance and extend the way people communicate, interact, and work.

Now in full colour, this thoroughly revised second edition includes:

• new chapters on data gathering, interfaces and interactions, and data analysis, presentation and interpretation
• practical case studies which are summarized in the text and expanded on the Web site
• new examples of evolving technologies and devices throughout
• updated interviews with HCI visionaries and practitioners.

Interaction Design is hugely popular with students and professionals alike. It is an ideal resource for learning the interdisciplinary skills needed for interaction design, human-computer interaction, information design and Web design.

Accompanying the text is an extensive Web site which contains hands-on interactive design and evaluation activities, annotated links to other sites, and additional teaching and learning materials. http://www.ID-Book.com

"In the field of interaction design one book stands out, a book that has established itself at the core of the discipline. With this new edition, the authors have successfully strengthened that position. The new structure and the timely content make the book highly relevant and much needed. Anyone who wants to learn the fundamentals of interaction design should read this book." - Eric Stolterman, Director, Human-Computer Interaction Design, Indiana University

"Interaction Design has been my textbook of choice for general HCI courses at both undergraduate and masters level for several years. It is authoritative while also being eminently readable and thought-provoking for students." - Ann Blandford, Director of UCL Interaction Centre and Professor of Human-Computer Interaction, University College London

"An exceptional book that helps bring design thinking and a human perspective to the conceptualization and development of technology-based products and systems." - Bill Buxton, Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research

Customer Reviews

Required for anyone who is serious about interface design
The field of interface and interaction design is formally known as Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). It is significant that a large amount of HCI deals with non-programming issues such as psychological approaches to end-user experience, social manners of the audience, and more. Interaction Design and The Essential Guide to User Interface Design provide a comprehensive overview of the essentials of interface design.

Beyond Interaction Design is an important book for designing effective and capable interfaces to software applications.

Interaction Design is a meat and potatoes book about HCI. Rather than focusing on the software that drives the application, the book analyzes how users actually interact with the system. This interaction is what ultimately will determine whether a system is successful or unproductive.

The book provides a comprehensive look at the entire set of requirements involved with design. The authors show that there is much more to systems design than end-user requirements and CGI scripts. Effective HCI is a multi-disciplinary area including psychology, sociology, anthropology, information systems, and computer science.

The authors write that their book is called "Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction" because it is concerned with the broader scope of issues, topics, and paradigms than has been traditionally written in other books. The book notes that there has never been a greater need for interactions designers and usability engineers to develop current and next-generation interaction technologies. To be successful in the interface design game, programmers need a mixed set of skills, which is not an easy task.

Interaction Design comprises 15 densely packed chapters that integrate all of the various cognitive, social, and other issues that are germane to interaction design. Chapter 1 provides an overview of what makes for good and bad design. Chapter 3 gets into the psychological aspect of HCI and looks at cognition and how users interact with the systems they implement. None of the book makes for easy reading, as the topics at hand are often multifaceted and complex. Chapter 6 deals with the process of interaction design and for the most part ends the psychological approach, while Chapters 7 through 10 deal with the actual design of the system.

The book has a number of real-world case studies, and also includes interviews with various authorities on HCI. However, it does not get into specific technologies (Solaris, Linux, etc.). Also, each chapter concludes with a number of references, which can be used as a launching pad for more information.

I highly recommend Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction for anyone who is serious about interface design. Your users will appreciate it.

Adequate but not great
I have used this text for a year and half, for three instances of the same course (upper division undergrad). Good: 1. Each chapter is about a week's work, so it fits the schedule nicely; 2. Each chapter has "activities", "summary", and "assignments" which I find very useful when making assignments; 3. Lots of illustrations; 4. Interviews with professionals in the field are added at the end of each chapter -- this adds another dimension to the "textbook" aspects of the book; 5. Cartoons here and there. Could be improved: the quality of some of the illustrations -- some of them are photos that are dark and hard to make out. Some look like they came from the 1950s -- I am not sure how that is possible in a book published in 2002, but that's what it looks like to me. Still, the text is "nicely illustrated". The thing that stops this from being a "great" text is the quality of the writing and presentation of ideas. The writing is too simplistic. A "great" text finds ways to express things in a succinct manner, summarizing key ideas. Instead, this book tends to be wordy in many places, and lacks an effective organization of ideas. Finally, the text is starting to appear "dated", but few textbooks can withstand the breakneck speed of change in this area. That said, no student has complained (to me) about the text (but neither have they praised it). And, I have not been able to find a better text.

Excellent Course Text for HCI students
The breath and depth of this text truly embodies the necessary content for beginning HCI students in an undergraduate and graduate program. I've successfully used this text every semester with my students since its inception. The author's perspective of the discipline accurately reflects an increasing trend in HCI education that places less emphasis on computing and more on designing products to enhance human communication based on the social sciences. It is organized to provide an instructor a way to pick and choose selected chapters or proceed sequentially. Each chapter is multi-dimensional in its approach to provide an array of content that includes both theory and practice. I highly recommend it.