Click here to learn
about this Sponsor:
Home  |  News  |  Articles  |  Polls  |  Forum

Keywords: Match:
New book aims to demystify UI design
May 24, 2007

A new book from Addison Wesley offers to demystify the design of effective user interfaces. In User Interface Design for Mere Mortals, author Eric Butow suggests that successful UIs are enjoyable to interact with, but also save time, eliminate frustration, and minimize user effort.

(Click for larger view of book cover)

Butow provides nine chapters and two appendices to help spoil the fun, at least for some, in designing user interfaces that at best give only a clue about what you can or should do. The author claims that anyone who reads his book will gain "an appreciation of the differences in the 'look and feel' of interfaces for a variety of systems and platforms" and learn "how to go about designing and creating the most appropriate interface for the application or website being developed."

The book is organized in nine chapters:
  • Brief Histories
  • Concepts and Issues
  • Making the Business Case
  • Good Design
  • How User Behave
  • Analyzing Your Users
  • Designing a User Interface
  • Designing a Web Site
  • Usability
Chapter 3, "Making the Business Case," makes the case for caring about user interfaces at all. The author writes, "In the days of the Internet revolution from the mid to late 1990s and early2000s, any company related to the Internet -- or computing in general -- was considered gold. Indeed, many companies without a comprehensive business plan received funding because they were involved with the Internet. Those days are long gone. Although the go-go days are over, what's been left in its wake is a more mature realization about what's needed to survive. You need all the help you can get to beat the competition. And, as always, customer satisfaction is the key to survival and growth. This is why usability analysis is so important." In chapter 4, the author moves on, perhaps a bit slowly, to tell you about good design.

Eric Butow is CEO of Butow Communications Group (BCG), a technical writing and Web design firm based in Roseville, Calif. He has authored or coauthored eight books since 2000, including Master Visually Windows 2000 Server, Teach Yourself Visually Windows 2000 Server,FrontPage 2002 Weekend Crash Course, C#: Your Visual Blueprint, Creating Web Pages Bible," "Dreamweaver MX 2004 Savvy," "The PDF Book for Microsoft Office," and "Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows Vista."

User Interface Design for Mere Mortals is available from Addison Wesley. List price is $44.99.



Related Stories:


(Click here for further information)


FUEL Database on MontaVista Linux
Whether building a mobile handset, a car navigation system, a package tracking device, or a home entertainment console, developers need capable software systems, including an operating system, development tools, and supporting libraries, to gain maximum benefit from their hardware platform and to meet aggressive time-to-market goals.

Breaking New Ground: The Evolution of Linux Clustering
With a platform comprising a complete Linux distribution, enhanced for clustering, and tailored for HPC, Penguin Computing¿s Scyld Software provides the building blocks for organizations from enterprises to workgroups to deploy, manage, and maintain Linux clusters, regardless of their size.

Data Monitoring with NightStar LX
Unlike ordinary debuggers, NightStar LX doesn¿t leave you stranded in the dark. It¿s more than just a debugger, it¿s a whole suite of integrated diagnostic tools designed for time-critical Linux applications to reduce test time, increase productivity and lower costs. You can debug, monitor, analyze and tune with minimal intrusion, so you see real execution behavior. And that¿s positively illuminating.

Virtualizing Service Provider Networks with Vyatta
This paper highlights Vyatta's unique ability to virtualize networking functions using Vyatta's secure routing software in service provider environments.

High Availability Messaging Solution Using AXIGEN, Heartbeat and DRBD
This white paper discusses a high-availability messaging solution relying on the AXIGEN Mail Server, Heartbeat and DRBD. Solution architecture and implementation, as well as benefits of using AXIGEN for this setup are all presented in detail.

Understanding the Financial Benefits of Open Source
Will open source pay off? Open source is becoming standard within enterprises, often because of cost savings. Find out how much of a financial impact it can have on your organization. Get this methodology and calculator now, compliments of JBoss.

Embedded Hardware and OS Technology Empower PC-Based Platforms
The modern embedded computer is the jack of all trades appearing in many forms.

Data Management for Real-Time Distributed Systems
This paper provides an overview of the network-centric computing model, data distribution services, and distributed data management. It then describes how the SkyBoard integration and synchronization service, coupled with an implementation of the OMG¿s Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard, can be used to create an efficient data distribution, storage, and retrieval system.

7 Advantages of D2D Backup
For decades, tape has been the backup medium of choice. But, now, disk-to-disk (D2D) backup is gaining in favor. Learn why you should make the move in this whitepaper.

 


Got a HOT tip?   please tell us!
Free weekly newsletter
Enter your email...
Click here for a profile of each sponsor:
PLATINUM SPONSORS
(Become a sponsor)

ADVERTISEMENT
(Advertise here)

Check out the latest Linux powered...

Mobile phones!

MIDs, UMPCs
& tablets

Mobile devices

Other cool
gadgets



BREAKING NEWS

• MontaVista touts Android readiness
• Via panel PC resists shock, liquids
• Linux provider touts support award
• "World's smallest humanoid robot" runs Linux
• Linux connects TVs to 'Net video
• Mot camera-phone runs widgets
• Linux-ready MILS kernel gains POSIX
• Multimedia processor plays H.264 video
• $7 ARM9 SoC gains mainline support
• Mini-ITX board has HDMI port
• Papers sought for Embedded Linux Conference
• Rugged Linux wrist computer upgraded
• Adobe unleashes 64-bit Flash
• USB 3.0 debuts
• Spotlight on Moblin.org Linux


Most popular stories -- past 90 days:
• Open source phone goes mass-market
• Tinest Linux system, yet?
• Garmin Nav devices run Gnome Linux
• ARM9 board boots Debian in 0.69 seconds
• Low-cost laptop runs Linpus Linux
• Linux-friendly Beagle fetches $150
• Mini Linux PC breaks $100 barrier
• Open source camera records geotagged video to SATA HDD
• Open set-top box ships
• First $100 laptop runs Linux


DesktopLinux headlines:
• "Moonlight" ready to shine
• Adobe unleashes 64-bit Flash
• Debian Lenny installer arrives
• Ubuntu announces ARM port
• Amazon offers Linux XOs
• Windows 7 "no threat" to netbook Linux
• Creative frees Sound Blaster driver code
• Linux, netbooks threaten Microsoft's fat profits
• Ibex inspires GNOME switch
• Linux to outship Windows in 2009?


Also visit our sister site:


Sign up for LinuxDevices.com's...

news feed

Home  |  News  |  Articles  |  Polls  |  Forum  |  About  |  Contact
 

Ziff Davis Enterprise Home | Contact Us | Advertise | Link to Us | Reprints | Magazine Subscriptions | Newsletters
Tech RSS Feeds | White Papers | ROI Calculators | Tech Podcasts | Tech Video | VARs | Channel News

Baseline | Careers | Channel Insider | CIO Insight | DesktopLinux | DeviceForge | DevSource | eSeminars |
eWEEK | Enterprise Network Security | LinuxDevices | Linux Watch | Microsoft Watch | Mid-market | Networking | PDF Zone |
Publish | Security IT Hub | Strategic Partner | Web Buyer's Guide | Windows for Devices

Developer Shed | Dev Shed | ASP Free | Dev Articles | Dev Hardware | SEO Chat | Tutorialized | Scripts |
Code Walkers | Web Hosters | Dev Mechanic | Dev Archives | igrep

Use of this site is governed by our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Except where otherwise specified, the contents of this site are copyright © 1999-2008 Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Enterprise is prohibited. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.