User Interface Design for Electronic Appliances
Konrad Baumann and Bruce Thomas
Foreword by Brenda Laurel
(C) Taylor & Francis, 2001
ISBN 0-415-24335-1
Hardback, 424 pages

"User Interface Design for Electronic Appliances fills an aching void in
the
literature of user experience. (...) This balanced and thorough
collection
of work reawakens our appreciation of a deliberate, multi-disciplinary
approach to achieving excellence in user experience design."
Brenda Laurel, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
"Let us hope that product designers will take the lessons in this book
to
heart and emphasize ease of use from now on. The world will be a much
happier place."
Jakob Nielsen - Principal, Nielsen Norman Group, Author, Designing Web
Usability: The Practice of Simplicity
"This book belongs on every designer's bookshelf.  The authors have
captured
the essence of effective minimalist design. Excellent work, and badly
needed!"
Bruce 'Tog' Tognazzini - Principal, Nielsen Norman Group, Formerly Apple
Computer's Human Interface Evangelist

This simple and manageable guide to user interface design is written for
the
professional in industry working on product development and the decision
process. It is directed not only to human factors specialists, but also
to
technicians, designers, marketing and product managers and students.
The book presents guidelines for user interface design including a
catalogue
of input and output devices for electronic appliances, adding material
on
the design process, interaction design, advanced input, speech
interfaces,
evaluation, standards, the move from usability to pleasure and cultural
differences.
Each chapter stands alone, so the book can be used as a reference
handbook.
Contributions come from several human factors specialists working in
industry and in academia. The text is extensively illustrated by product
examples showing good user interface design.

Konrad Baumann teaches Human Factors at the FH Joanneum graduate school
in
Graz, Austria. He has also worked as Product Manager for Philips in
Vienna,
Austria. He is co-author of a UI design book in German language.
Bruce Thomas is a Human Factors Specialist working for Philips Design in
Vienna. He is directly involved with the UI design of a variety of
Philips
products. He is co-editor of Usability Evaluation in Industry, Taylor &
Francis, 1996.

Contents

Foreword by Brenda Laurel
Part One: Introduction
1. Background, Bruce Thomas
2. Introduction, Konrad Baumann
3. The Interaction Design Process, Georg Rakers
Part Two: User Interface Design
4. Creativity Techniques, Irene Mavrommati
5. Design Principals, Irene Mavrommati and Adrian Martel
6. Design of On-Screen Interfaces, Irene Mavrommati
Part Three: Input Devices
7. Controls, Konrad Baumann
8. Keyboards, Konrad Baumann
9. Advanced Interaction Techniques, Christopher Baber and Konrad Baumann
10. Speech Control, Christopher Baber and Jan Noyes
11. Wearable Computers, Christopher Baber
Part Four: Output Devices
12. Visual Displays, Konrad Baumann
13. Auditory Displays, Othmar Schimmel
14. Tactile Displays and Speech Output, Leo Poll
Part Five: Important Issues
15. Standards in User Interface Design, Jennifer Weston
16. Usability Evaluation, Bruce Thomas
17. Pleasure with Products - the New Human Factors, Patrick E. Jordan
18. National Cultures and Design, Patrick W. Jordan
Appendix
Summary of Guidelines, Konrad Baumann
Guide to Further Reading, Susan Coles
References
Index of authors
Index of companies and products
Index of subjects

Preface by Brenda Laurel

User Interface Design for Electronic Appliances fills an aching void in
the
literature of user experience.  While pundits have been busy
rhapsodizing
about the coming convergence in interactive media, what has actually
been
happening is an explosive divergence in the form and functions of
electronic
devices.  Convergence, I think, is a myth created to fulfill our wistful
desire for everything to be simple and coherent.  Instead, we find
ourselves
in a world where user interface styles seem to be multiplying as rapidly
as
device types.  Our backpacks and belt loops are cluttered with little
gadgets that communicate poorly with us, and with each other not at all.
The ideal of a life smoothly augmented by technology seems farther away
than
ever.
This book provides a comprehensive array of explanations, guidelines,
and
techniques that can serve the designer of any new (or "improved")
electronic
device, from cellular phones to augmented reality devices.  Were this
book
to become the design manual of choice, we would experience a twofold
gain in
the quality of user experience:  better-informed standards for
consistency
and ease of use, and increasingly effective customization of devices to
specific users, activities, and situated contexts.  In other words, we
can
have the best of both paradigms - convergence and divergence - through
better design practice.
Baumann and Thomas have resisted the temptation to see user interface
design
for today's new devices as simple extensions of conventions developed
for
the personal computer.  Indeed, Baumann reaches back to the world of
analogue controls for numerous examples of input devices that are
universally understood and superbly well-suited to their particular
functions.  Likewise, the contributors to this book do not rely on the
received wisdom of the human factors and user interface communities as
unquestioned standards for appropriateness.  Readers will find
refreshing
explanations of the realities of human perception, social behaviors, and
cultural differences along with concrete examples of their relevance to
successful design.  From brainstorming to team structure to user
testing,
this book also provides guidelines for managing the human side of design
practice.
Finally, User Interface Design for Electronic Appliances makes a strong
case
for adding pleasure to the list of criteria for good user experience.
Pleasure seems to be the supreme goal of many trendy techno-consumer
products.  But in recent years, designers have too often been tempted to
sacrifice thoughtful design practices in pursuit of short-term fads and
ephemeral economic gains.  It is therefore not surprising that enduring
pleasure and extended product life-spans continue to evade our grasp.
This
balanced and thorough collection of work reawakens our appreciation of a
deliberate, multi-disciplinary approach to achieving excellence in user
experience design.

Brenda Laurel is the editor of The Art of Human-Computer Interface
Design
(Addison-Wesley, 1990) and author of Computers as Theatre
(Addison-Wesley,
1991).  She currently serves as a member of the graduate faculty in the
Media Design Program at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena,
California.

----------------------------------------------------------
DI   K o n r a d   B a u m a n n
Lecturer in Human Factors and Usability Engineering
Information Design Program / FH Joanneum
Alte Poststrasse 149, A-8020 Graz, Austria
phone +43 316 5453 8615,       fax +43 316 5453 8601
konrad.baum...@fh-joanneum.at
http://informations-design.fh-joanneum.at/lehre/f_team.html
----------------------------------------------------------
New book :    
K. Baumann and B. Thomas:  "User Interface Design for Electronic
Appliances"
Taylor & Francis 2001, ISBN 0-415-24335-1
http://www.ergonomicsarena.com/ergonomicsarena/books.html

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 GI-Fachgruppe Software-Ergonomie
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