marks@agcsun.UUCP (Mark Shepherd) (07/17/90)
Where can I find out how to design a user interface? What are some good books to read? Are there courses I can go to? Are there UseNet newsgroups I should subscribe to? Any and all information is appreciated. I will summarize and post the replies I get. Thanks Mark Shepherd agcsun!marks@boulder.colorado.edu 303-279-1300 x288 (voice) 303-279-2209 (fax)
wdr@wang.com (William Ricker) (07/18/90)
marks%agcsun.UUCP@boulder.colorado.edu (Mark Shepherd) writes: >Where can I find out how to design a user interface >What are some good books to read? Don Norman, /Design of Everday Things/ (Paberback) or /Psychology of Everyday Things/ (hardback), 1988-1990. Edward Tufte, /Envisioning Information/ 1990 ($48 ppd from Graphic Press, PO Box 430, Cheshire Conn. 06410), and if into statistical graphics, his earlier cult classic, /Visual Display of Quantitative Information/, 1983? ($36 ppd Graphic Press). More directly prescriptive is IBM's SAA/CUA user interface standard for OS/2 and Windows applications, which has replaced the Microsoft windows style guide in new shipments of Windows SDK and (presumably) OS/2 SDKs (if they still exist). If you need some simple advice on what users expect and such, this is a practical place to start -- but also get the above two too, to see the "why"s and also to learn how to make exceptions to the IBM rules, since they're not general case fool proof by any means, and take some experience or taste to interpret. Any good book on color theory (eg, Albers, Yale, 1975; Itten, VNR, 1961). Smith et al at MITRE produced a checklist for human-factors for interface design in the 80's. If you have access to the Nat'l Tech. Info. Service, you can order a copy or microfiche (cheaper). I can look up the # at home on request. (I should bring it in to the office soon anyway!) ?? What do people thing of this document, and has it been improved upon elsewhere?? >Are there courses I can go to? Industrial Design classes are taught at some universities. I hope there are courses on Human Factors at schools now, but I don't know where. The ACM SIGCHI (Special Interest Group: Computer and Human Interaction) has an annual conference, last was April '90. Your local ACM chapter could tell you if there is a local SIGCHI chapter which might host local presentations. You should be able to order back-issues of previous proceedings from ACM HQ in NY. >Are there UseNet newsgroups I should subscribe to? comp.cog-eng [COGnitive ENGineering, an almost synonym for CHI and HumFac for this field of research/consulting] is occasionally interesting, but frequently needs to be stired up, so I'm cross posting this there, and redirecting followups. -- /bill ricker/ wdr@wang.com a/k/a wricker@northeastern.edu *** Warning: This account not authorized to express opinions ***
andrew@brownvm.brown.edu (Andrew Gilmartin) (07/20/90)
In article <817@agcsun.UUCP> marks@agcsun.UUCP (Mark Shepherd) writes: > What are some good books to read? C. Marlin Brown. *Human-Computer Interface Design Guidelines* (1988. Ablex Publishing Corporation). It is the best introduction to interface design I have read. This book maybe hard to find. Apple Computer. *HyperCard Stack Design Guidelines* (1988 Addison-Wesley Publishing Company). While it specifically address HyperCard, it offers sound design advise. It also has an interesting "further readings" section. -- Andrew Gilmartin Computing & Information Services Brown University andrew@brownvm.brown.edu