OReilly designing interfaces nov 2005 ISBN 0596008031

DesigningInterfaces
ByJeniferTidwell
...............................................
Publisher:O'Reilly
PubDate:November2005
PrintISBN-10:0-596-00803-1
PrintISBN-13:978-0-59-600803-1
Pages:352

TableofContents|Index

Designingagoodinterfaceisn'teasy.Usersdemandsoftwarethatiswell-behaved,goodlooking,andeasytouse.Yourclientsormanagersdemandoriginalityandashorttimeto
market.YourUItechnology--Webapplications,desktopsoftware,evenmobiledevices-maygiveyouthetoolsyouneed,butlittleguidanceonhowtousethemwell.
UIdesignersovertheyearshaverefinedtheartofinterfacedesign,evolvingmanybest
practicesandreusableideas.Ifyoulearnthese,andunderstandwhythebestuser
interfacesworksowell,youtoocandesignengagingandusableinterfaceswithless
guessworkandmoreconfidence.
DesigningInterfacescapturesthosebestpracticesasdesignpatterns--solutionsto
commondesignproblems,tailoredtothesituationathand.Eachpatterncontainspractical
advicethatyoucanputtouseimmediately,plusavarietyofexamplesillustratedinfull
color.You'llgetrecommendations,designalternatives,andwarnings
onwhennottousethem.
Eachchapter'sintroductiondescribeskeydesignconceptsthatareoftenmisunderstood,
suchasaffordances,visualhierarchy,navigationaldistance,andtheuseofcolor.These
giveyouadeeperunderstandingofwhythepatternswork,andhowtoapplythemwith
moreinsight.
Abookcan'tdesignaninterfaceforyou--nofoolproofdesignprocessisgivenhere--but
DesigningInterfacesdoesgiveyouconcreteideasthatyoucanmixandrecombineasyou
seefit.Experienceddesignerscanuseitasasourcebookofideas.Novicedesignerswill
findaroadmaptotheworldofinterfaceandinteractiondesign,withenoughguidanceto
startusingthesepatternsimmediately.

DesigningInterfaces
ByJeniferTidwell
...............................................
Publisher:O'Reilly
PubDate:November2005
PrintISBN-10:0-596-00803-1
PrintISBN-13:978-0-59-600803-1
Pages:352

TableofContents|Index

Copyright
Preface
SMALLINTERFACEPIECES,LOOSELYJOINED
ABOUTPATTERNSINGENERAL

OTHERPATTERNCOLLECTIONS
ABOUTTHEPATTERNSINTHISBOOK
AUDIENCE
HOWTHISBOOKISORGANIZED
COMMENTSANDQUESTIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Chapter1.WhatUsersDo
Section1.1.AMEANSTOANEND
Section1.2.THEBASICSOFUSERRESEARCH
Section1.3.USERS'MOTIVATIONTOLEARN
Section1.4.THEPATTERNS
Chapter2.OrganizingtheContent:InformationArchitectureandApplication
Structure
Section2.1.THEBASICSOFINFORMATIONARCHITECTURE:DIVIDING
STUFFUP
Section2.2.PHYSICALSTRUCTURE
Section2.3.THEPATTERNS
Chapter3.GettingAround:Navigation,Signposts,andWayfinding
Section3.1.STAYINGFOUND
Section3.2.THECOSTOFNAVIGATION

Section3.3.THEPATTERNS
Chapter4.OrganizingthePage:LayoutofPageElements
Section4.1.THEBASICSOFPAGELAYOUT
Section4.2.THEPATTERNS
Chapter5.DoingThings:ActionsandCommands
Section5.1.PUSHINGTHEBOUNDARIES
Section5.2.THEPATTERNS
Chapter6.ShowingComplexData:Trees,Tables,andOtherInformationGraphics
Section6.1.THEBASICSOFINFORMATIONGRAPHICS
Section6.2.THEPATTERNS
Chapter7.GettingInputfromUsers:FormsandControls
Section7.1.THEBASICSOFFORMDESIGN
Section7.2.CONTROLCHOICE
Section7.3.THEPATTERNS
Chapter8.BuildersandEditors
Section8.1.THEBASICSOFEDITORDESIGN
Section8.2.THEPATTERNS
Chapter9.MakingItLookGood:VisualStyleandAesthetics
Section9.1.SAMECONTENT,DIFFERENTSTYLES
Section9.2.THEBASICSOFVISUALDESIGN
Section9.3.WHATTHISMEANSFORDESKTOPAPPLICATIONS
Section9.4.THEPATTERNS
AbouttheAuthor
Colophon
Index

Copyright©2006O'ReillyMedia,Inc.Allrightsreserved.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
PublishedbyO'ReillyMedia,Inc.,1005GravensteinHighway
North,Sebastopol,CA95472.
O'Reillybooksmaybepurchasedforeducational,business,or
salespromotionaluse.Onlineeditionsarealsoavailablefor
mosttitles(safari.oreilly.com).Formoreinformation,contact
ourcorporate/institutionalsalesdepartment:(800)998-9938or

Editors:

AndrewOdewahnandMaryO'Brien

ProductionEditor:

Genevieved'Entremont

CoverDesigner:

MikeKohnke

InteriorDesigner:

NOON

PrintingHistory:



November2005:

FirstEdition.

NutshellHandbook,theNutshellHandbooklogo,andthe
O'ReillylogoareregisteredtrademarksofO'ReillyMedia,Inc.
DesigningInterfacesandrelatedtradedressaretrademarksof
O'ReillyMedia,Inc.
Manyofthedesignationsusedbymanufacturersandsellersto
distinguishtheirproductsareclaimedastrademarks.Where
thosedesignationsappearinthisbook,andO'ReillyMedia,Inc.,


wasawareofatrademarkclaim,thedesignationshavebeen
printedincapsorinitialcaps.
Whileeveryprecautionhasbeentakeninthepreparationofthis
book,thepublisherandauthorassumenoresponsibilityfor
errorsoromissions,orfordamagesresultingfromtheuseof
theinformationcontainedherein.
ThisbookusesRepKover,adurableandflexiblelay-flatbinding.
ISBN:0-596-00803-1
[C]

Preface
Onceuponatime,interfacedesignersworkedwithawoefully
smalltoolbox.
Wehadahandfulofsimplecontrols:textfields,buttons,
menus,tinyicons,andmodaldialogs.Wecarefullyputthem
togetheraccordingtotheWindowsStyleGuideortheMacintosh
HumanInterfaceGuidelines,andwehopedthatuserswould
understandtheresultinginterfaceandtoooften,theydidn't.We
designedforsmallscreens,fewcolors,slowCPUs,andslow
networks(iftheuserwasconnectedatall).Wemadethem
gray.
Thingshavechanged.Ifyoudesigninterfacestoday,youwork
withamuchbiggerpaletteofcomponentsandideas.Youhave
achoiceofmanymoreuserinterfacetoolkitsthanbefore,such
asJava™Swing,Qt,HTMLandJavascript,Flash,andnumerous
open-sourceoptions.Apple'sandMicrosoft'snativeUItoolkits
arericherandnicer-lookingthantheyusedtobe.Display
technologyisbetter.Webapplicationsoftenlookas
professionallydesignedasthewebsitesthey'reembeddedin,
andwhiledesktop-UIideaslikedrag-and-dropareintegrated
intowebapplicationsslowly,someofthosewebsensibilitiesare
migratingbackintodesktopapplicationsintheformofblue
underlinedlinks,Back/Nextbuttons,daringfontsand
backgroundimages,andnice,non-graycolorschemes.
Butit'sstillnoteasytodesigngoodinterfaces.Let'ssayyou're
notatrainedorself-taughtinterfacedesigner.Ifyoujustuse
theUItoolkitsthewaytheyshouldbeused,andifyoufollow
thevariousstyleguidesorimitateexistingapplications,youcan
probablycreateamediocrebutpassableinterface.

Alas,thatmaynotbeenoughanymore.Users'expectationsare
higherthantheyusedtobeifyourinterfaceisn'teasytouse


"outofthebox,"userswillnotthinkwellofit.Evenifthe
interfaceobeysallthestandards,youmayhavemisunderstood
users'preferredworkflow,usedthewrongvocabulary,ormade
ittoohardtofigureoutwhatthesoftwareevendoes.Impatient
usersoftenwon'tgiveyouthebenefitofthedoubt.Worse,if
you'vebuiltanunusablewebsiteorwebapplication,frustrated
userscangiveupandswitchtoyourcompetitorwithjustthe
clickofabutton.Sothecostofbuildingamediocreinterfaceis
higherthanitusedtobe,too.
It'seventougherifyoudesignproductsoutsideofthedesktop
andwebworlds,becausethere'sverylittlegooddesignadvice
outthere.Palmtops,cellphones,carnavigationsystems,digital
TVrecordersdesignersarestillfiguringoutwhatworksand
whatdoesn't,oftenfrombasicprinciples.(Andtheirusersoften
toleratedifficultinterfacesbutthatwon'tlastlong.)
Deviceslikephones,TVs,andcardashboardsoncewerethe
exclusivedomainofindustrialdesigners.Butnowthosedevices
havebecomesmart.Increasinglypowerfulcomputersdrive
them,andsoftware-basedfeaturesandapplicationsare
multiplyinginresponsetomarketdemands.They'rehereto
stay,whetherornottheyareeasytouse.Atthisrate,good
interfaceandinteractiondesignmaybetheonlyhopeforour
collectivesanityin10years.

SMALLINTERFACEPIECES,LOOSELYJOINED
Asaninterfacedesignertryingtomakesenseofallthe
technologychangesinthelastfewyears,Iseetwobigeffects
onthecraftofinterfacedesign.Oneistheproliferationof
interfaceidioms:recognizabletypesorstylesofinterfaces,each
withitsownvocabularyofobjects,actions,andvisuals.You
probablyrecognizealltheonesshowninthefigureonthenext
page,andmorearebeinginventedallthetime.

FigureI-1.Asamplerofinterfaceidioms



Thesecondeffectisalooseningoftherulesforputtingtogether
interfacesfromtheseidioms.Itnolongersurprisesanyoneto
seeseveraloftheseidiomsmixedupinoneinterface,for
instance,ortoseepartsofsomecontrolsmixedupwithparts
ofothercontrols.Onlinehelppages,whichhavelongbeen
formattedinhypertextanyway,mightnowhaveinteractive
appletsinthem,animations,orlinkstoaweb-basedbulletin
board.Interfacesthemselvesmighthavehelptextsonthem,
interleavedwithformsoreditors;thisusedtoberare.Combo
boxes'dropdownmenusmighthavefunkylayouts,likecolor
gridsorsliders,insteadofthestandardcolumnoftextitems.
Youmightseewebapplicationsthatlooklikedocumentcenteredpaintprograms,buthavenomenubars,andsavethe
finishedworkonlytoadatabasesomewhere.
Thefreeform-nessofwebpagesseemstohavetaughtusersto
relaxtheirexpectationswithrespecttographicsand
interactivity.It'sokaynowtobreaktheoldWindowsstyleguide

strictures,aslongasuserscanfigureoutwhatyou'redoing.
Andthat'sthehardpart.Someapplications,devices,andweb
applicationsareeasytouse.Manyaren't.Followingstyleguides
neverguaranteedusabilityanyhow,butnowdesignershave
evenmorechoicesthanbefore(which,paradoxically,canmake
designalotharder).Whatcharacterizesinterfacesthatare
easytouse?
Onecouldsay,"Theapplicationsthatareeasytouseare
designedtobeintuitive."Well,yes.That'salmostatautology.
Exceptthattheword"intuitive"isalittlebitdeceptive.Jef
Raskinoncepointedoutthatwhenwesay"intuitive"inthe
contextofsoftware,wereallymean"familiar."Computermice
aren'tintuitivetosomeonewho'sneverseenone(thougha
growlinggrizzlybearwouldbe).There'snothinginnateor


instinctiveinthehumanbraintoaccountforit.Butonceyou've
taken10secondstolearntouseamouse,it'sfamiliar,and
you'llneverforgetit.Sameforblueunderlinedtext,play/pause
buttons,andsoon.
Rephrased:"Theapplicationsthatareeasytousearedesigned
tobefamiliar."
Nowwe'regettingsomewhere."Familiar"doesn'tnecessarily
meanthateverythingaboutagivenapplicationisidenticalto
somegenre-definingproduct(e.g.,Word,Photoshop,MacOS,
oraWalkman).Peoplearesmarterthanthat.Aslongasthe
partsarerecognizableenough,andtherelationshipsamongthe
partsareclear,thenpeoplecanapplytheirpreviousknowledge
toanovelinterfaceandfigureitout.
That'swherepatternscomein.Thisbookcatalogsmanyof

thosefamiliarparts,inwaysyoucanreuseinmanydifferent
contexts.Patternscaptureacommonstructureusuallyavery
"local"one,likefunkylayoutsonacomboboxwithoutbeingtoo
concreteonthedetails,whichgivesyouflexibilitytobe
creative.
Ifyouknowwhatusersexpectofyourapplication,andifyou
choosecarefullyfromyourtoolboxofidioms(large-scale),
controls(small-scale),andpatterns(coveringtherange),then
youcanputtogethersomethingwhich"feelsfamiliar"while
remainingoriginal.
Andthatgetsyouthebestofbothworlds.


ABOUTPATTERNSINGENERAL
Inessence,patternsarestructuralandbehavioralfeaturesthat
improvethe"habitability"ofsomethingauserinterface,aweb
site,anobject-orientedprogram,orevenabuilding.Theymake
thingseasiertounderstandormorebeautiful;theymaketools
moreusefulandusable.
Assuch,patternscanbeadescriptionofbestpracticeswithina
givendesigndomain.Theycapturecommonsolutionstodesign
tensions(usuallycalled"forces"inpatternliterature)andthus,
bydefinition,arenotnovel.Theyaren'toff-the-shelf
components;eachimplementationofapatterndiffersalittle
fromeveryother.Theyaren'tsimplerulesorheuristicseither.
Andtheywon'twalkyouthroughanentiresetofdesign
decisionsifyou'relookingforacompletestep-by-step
descriptionofhowtodesignaninterface,apatterncatalogisn't
theplace!
Thisbookdescribespatternsliterallyassolutionstodesign

problemsbecausepartoftheirvalueliesinthewaythey
resolvetensionsinvariousdesigncontexts.Forinstance,an
interfacedesignerwhoneedstopackalotofstuffintoatoosmallspacecanuseaCardStack.Whatremainsforthe
designerisinformationarchitecturehowtosplitupthecontent
intopieces,whattonamethem,etc.andwhatexactlytheCard
Stackwilllooklikewhenit'sdone.Tabs?Alefthand-sidelistor
tree?That'suptothedesigner'sjudgment.
Someverycompletesetsofpatternsmakeupa"pattern
language."Thesepatternsresemblevisuallanguages,inthat
theycovertheentirevocabularyofelementsusedinadesign
(thoughpatternlanguagesaremoreabstractandbehavioral;
visuallanguagestalkaboutshapes,icons,colors,fonts,etc.).
Thissetisn'tnearlysocomplete,anditcontainstechniquesthat
don'tqualifyastraditionalpatterns.Butit'sconciseenoughto


bemanageableanduseful.




OTHERPATTERNCOLLECTIONS
Thetextthatstarteditalldealtwithphysicalbuildings,not
software.ChristopherAlexander'sAPatternLanguage,andits
companionbook,TheTimelessWayofBuilding(bothOxford
UniversityPress),establishedtheconceptofpatternsand
describeda250-patternmultilayeredpatternlanguage.Itis
oftenconsideredthegoldstandardforapatternlanguage
becauseofitscompleteness,itsrichinterconnectedness,andits
groundinginthehumanresponsetoourbuiltworld.

Inthemid-1990s,thepublicationofDesignPatterns,(AddisonWesley)byErichGamma,RichardHelm,RalphJohnson,and
JohnVlissidesprofoundlychangedthepracticeofcommercial
softwarearchitecture.Thisbookisacollectionofpatterns
describingobject-oriented"micro-architectures."Ifyouhavea
backgroundinsoftwareengineering,thisisthebookthat
probablyintroducedyoutotheideaofpatterns.Manyother
authorshavewrittenbooksaboutsoftwarepatternssince
DesignPatterns.Softwarepatternssuchasthesedomake
softwaremorehabitableforthosewhowritethesoftware,not
thosewhouseit!
Thefirstsubstantialsetofuser-interfacepatternswasthe
predecessorofthispatternscollection,"CommonGround."[1]
Manyothercollectionsandlanguagesfollowed,notablyMartijn
vanWelie's"InteractionDesignPatterns,"[2]andJanBorchers's
bookAPatternApproachtoInteractionDesign(WileyMore
recently,afull-fledgedwebsitepatternlanguagewas
published,calledTheDesignofSites(Addison-Wesley).Ihighly
recommendit,especiallyifyou'redesigningtraditionalweb
sites.Ifyou'rebuildingwebordesktopapplications,orifyou're
pushingtheboundariesineitherdomain,lookatallofthese
publications;youmightfindinspirationinanyofthem.
[1] />

[2] />



ABOUTTHEPATTERNSINTHISBOOK
Sothere'snothingreallynewinhere.Ifyou'vedoneanywebor
UIdesign,oreventhoughtmuchaboutit,youshouldsay,"Oh,

right,Iknowwhatthatis"tomostofthesepatterns.Butafew
ofthemmightbenewtoyou,andsomeofthefamiliarones
maynotbepartofyourusualdesignrepertoire.
Thesepatternsworkforbothdesktopandweb-based
applications.Manypatternsalsoapplytosuchdigitaldevicesas
palmtops,cellphones,andTV-baseddeviceslikedigital
recorders.Ordinarywebsitesmightalsobenefit,butI'lltalk
moreaboutthattopicinthenextsection.
Thoughthisbookwon'texhaustivelydescribealltheinterface
idiomsmentionedearlier,theyorganizepartofthebook.Three
chaptersfocusonthemorecommonidioms:forms,information
graphics,andWYSIWYGeditors(likethoseusedfortextand
graphics).Otherchaptersaddresssubjectsthatareuseful
acrossmanyidioms,suchasorganization,navigation,actions,
andvisualstyle.
Thisbookisintendedtobereadbypeoplewhohavesome
knowledgeofsuchinterfacedesignconceptsandterminology
suchasdialogboxes,selection,comboboxes,navigationbars,
andwhitespace.Itdoesnotidentifymanywidelyaccepted
techniques,suchascopy-and-paste,sinceyoualreadyknow
whattheyare.But,attheriskofbelaboringtheobvious,this
bookdescribessomecommontechniquestoencouragetheir
useinothercontextsforinstance,manydesktopapplications
couldbetteruseGlobalNavigationortodiscussthemalongside
alternativesolutions.
Thisbookdoesnotpresentacompleteprocessforconstructing
aninterfacedesign.Whendoingdesign,asoundprocessis
critical.Youneedtohavecertainelementsinadesignprocess:

Fieldresearch,tofindoutwhattheintendedusersarelike
andwhattheyalreadydo
Goalandtaskanalysis,todescribeandclarifywhatusers
willdowithwhatyou'rebuilding
Designmodels,suchaspersonas(modelsofusers),
scenarios(modelsofcommontasksandsituations),and
prototypes(modelsoftheinterfaceitself)
Empiricaltestingofthedesignatvariouspointsduring
development,likeusabilitytestingandinsituobservations
ofthedesignusedbyrealusers
Enoughtimetoiterateoverseveralversionsofthedesign,
becauseyouwon'tgetitrightthefirsttime
Thetopicofdesignprocesstranscendsthescopeofthisbook,
andplentyofotherbooksandworkshopsouttherecoverit
well.Readthem;they'regood.
Butthere'sadeeperreasonwhythisbookwon'tgiveyoua
recipefordesigninganinterface.Gooddesigncan'tbereduced
toarecipe.It'sacreativeprocess,andonethatchangesunder
youasyouworkinanygivenproject,forinstance,youwon't
understandsomedesignissuesuntilyou'vedesignedyourway
intoadeadend.I'vepersonallydonethatmanytimes.
Anddesignisn'tlinear.Mostchaptersinthisbookarearranged
moreorlessbyscale,andthereforebytheirapproximateorder
inthedesignprogression:largedecisionsaboutcontentand
scopearemadefirst,followedbynavigation,pagedesign,and,
eventually,thedetailsofinteractionswithformsandcanvases
andsuch.Butyou'lloftenfindyourselfmovingbackandforth
throughthisprogression.Maybeyou'llknowveryearlyina
projecthowacertainscreenshouldlook,andthat'sa"fixed

point";youmayhavetoworkbackwardfromtheretofigureout
therightnavigationalstructure.(No,it'snotideal,butthings
likethisdohappeninreallife.)
Thatsaid,herearesomewaysyoucanusethesepatterns:

Learning
Ifyoudon'thaveyearsofdesignexperiencealready,aset
ofpatternsmayserveasalearningtool.Youmaywantto
readoverittogetideas,orreferbacktospecificpatterns
astheneedarises.Justasexpandingyourvocabularyhelps
youexpressideasinlanguage,expandingyourinterface
design"vocabulary"helpsyoucreatemoreexpressive
designs.

Examples
Eachpatterninthisbookhasatleastoneexample.Some
havemany;theymightbeusefultoyouasasourcebook.
Youmayfindwisdomintheexamplesthatismissinginthe
textofthepattern.

Terminology
Ifyoutalktousers,engineers,ormanagersaboutinterface
design,orifyouwritespecifications,thenyoucouldusethe
patternnamesasawayofcommunicatinganddiscussing
ideas.Thisisanotherwell-knownbenefitofpattern
languages.(Theterms"singleton"and"factory,"for
instance,wereoriginallypatternnames,butthey'renowin
commonusageamongsoftwareengineers.)

Inspiration
Eachpatterndescriptiontriestocapturethereasonswhy
thepatternworkstomakeaninterfaceeasierormorefun.
Ifyougetit,butwanttodosomethingalittledifferentfrom
theexamples,youcanbecreativewithyour"eyesopen."
Onemorewordofcaution:acatalogofpatternsisnota
checklist.Youcannotmeasurethequalityofathingbycounting
thepatternsinit.Eachdesignprojecthasauniquecontext,and
evenifyouneedtosolveacommondesignproblem(suchas
howtofittoomuchcontentontoapage),agivenpatternmight
beapoorsolutionwithinthatcontext.Noreferencecan
substituteforgooddesignjudgment.Norcanitsubstitutefora
gooddesignprocess,whichhelpsyoufindandrecoverfrom
designmistakes.
Ultimately,youshouldbeabletoleaveareferencelikethis
behind.Asyoubecomeanexperienceddesigner,youwillhave
internalizedtheseideastothepointatwhichyoudon'tnotice
youusethemanymore;thepatternsbecomesecondnature.
They'repartofyourtoolboxfromthenon.


AUDIENCE
Ifyoudesignuserinterfacesinanycapacity,youmightfindthis
bookuseful.It'sintendedforpeoplewhoworkon:
Desktopapplications
Webapplicationsor"richinternetapplications"(RIAs)
Highlyinteractivewebsites
Softwareforhandhelds,cellphones,orotherconsumer
electronics

Turnkeysystems,suchaskiosks
Operatingsystems
Thelistmightalsoincludetraditionalwebsitessuchas
corporatehomepages,butIdeliberatelydidnotfocusonweb
sites.Theyareamplycoveredbytheexistingliterature,and
talkingmoreaboutthemhereseemsredundant.Also,mostof
themdon'thavethedegreeofinteractivitytakenforgrantedin
manypatterns;there'saqualitativedifferencebetweena"readonly"siteandonethatactuallyinteractswithitsusers.
Ofcourse,profounddifferencesexistamongallthesedesign
platforms.However,Ibelievetheyhavemoreincommonthan
wegenerallythink.You'llseeexamplesfrommanydifferent
platformsinthesepatterns,andthat'sdeliberatetheyoftenuse
thesamepatternstoachievethesameends.
Thisbookisn'tDesign101;it'smorelikeDesign225.As
mentionedearlier,it'sexpectedthatyoualreadyknowthe


basicsofUIdesign,suchasavailabletoolkitsandcontrolsets,
conceptslikedrag-and-dropandfocus,andtheimportanceof
usabilitytestinganduserfeedback.Ifyoudon't,someexcellent
bookslistedinthereferencescangetyoustartedwiththe
essentials.
Specifically,thisbooktargetsthefollowingaudiences:
SoftwaredeveloperswhoneedtodesigntheUIsthatthey
build.
Webpagedesignerswhoarenowaskedtodesignwebapps
orsiteswithmoreinteractivity.
Newinterfacedesignersandusabilityspecialists.
Moreexperienceddesignerswhowanttoseehowother
designssolvecertainproblems;theexamplescanserveas

asourcebookforideas.
Professionalsinadjacentfields,suchastechnicalwriting,
productdesign,andinformationarchitecture.
Managerswhowanttounderstandwhat'sinvolvedingood
interfacedesign.
Open-sourcedevelopersandenthusiasts.Thisisn'tquite
"open-sourcedesign,"buttheideahereistoopenup
interfacedesignbestpracticesforeveryone'sbenefit.




HOWTHISBOOKISORGANIZED
Thesepatternsaregroupedintothematicchapters,andeach
chapterhasanintroductionthatbrieflycoverstheconcepts
thosepatternsarebuiltupon.Iwanttoemphasizebriefly.
Someoftheseconceptscouldhaveentirebookswrittenabout
them.Buttheintroductionswillgiveyousomecontext;ifyou
alreadyknowthisstuff,they'llbereviewmaterial,andifnot,
they'lltellyouwhattopicsyoumightwanttolearnmoreabout.
Thefirstsetofchaptersareapplicabletoalmostanyinterface
youmightdesign,whetherit'sadesktopapplication,web
application,website,hardwaredevice,orwhateveryoucan
thinkof:
Chapter1,WhatUsersDo,talksaboutcommonbehavior
andusagepatternssupportedwellbygoodinterfaces.
Chapter2,OrganizingtheContent,discussesinformation
architectureasitappliestohighlyinteractiveinterfaces.It
dealswithdifferentorganizationalmodels,theamountof
contentauserseesatonetime,andthebestwaytouse

windows,panels,andpages.
Chapter3,GettingAround,discussesnavigation.It
describespatternsformovingaroundaninterfacebetween
pages,amongwindows,andwithinlargevirtualspaces.
Chapter4,OrganizingthePage,describespatternsforthe
layoutandplacementofpageelements.Ittalksabouthow
tocommunicatemeaningsimplybyputtingthingsinthe
rightplaces.
Chapter5,DoingThings,talksabouthowtopresentactions


andcommands;usethesepatternstohandlethe"verbs"of
aninterface.
Nextcomesasetofchaptersthatdealwithspecificidioms.It's
finetoreadthemall,butreal-lifeprojectsprobablywon'tuse
allofthem.Chapters6and7arethemostbroadlyapplicable,
sincemostmoderninterfacesusetrees,tables,orformsin
somefashion.
Chapter6,ShowingComplexData,containspatternsfor
trees,tables,charts,andinformationgraphicsingeneral.It
discussesthecognitiveaspectsofdatapresentation,and
howtousethemtocommunicateknowledgeandmeaning.
Chapter7,GettingInputfromUsers,dealswithformsand
controls.Alongwiththepatterns,thischapterhasatable
thatmapsdatatypestovariouscontrolsthatcanrepresent
them.
Chapter8,BuildersandEditors,discussestechniquesand
patternsoftenusedinWYSIWYGgraphiceditorsandtext
editors.
Finally,thelastchaptercomesattheendofthedesign

progression,butittooappliestoalmostanythingyoudesign.
Chapter9,MakingItLookGood,dealswithaestheticsand
fit-and-finish.Itusesgraphic-designprinciplesandpatterns
toshowhow(andwhy)topolishthelook-and-feelofan
interface,onceitsbehaviorisestablished.
Ichosethisbook'sexamplesbasedonmanyfactors.Themost
importantfactorishowwellanexampledemonstratesagiven
patternorconcept,ofcourse,butotherconsiderationsinclude
generaldesignfitness,printability,platformvarietydesktop


applications,websites,devices,etc.andhowwell-knownand
accessibletheseapplicationsmightbetoreaders.Assuch,the
examplesareweightedheavilytowardMicrosoftandApple
software,certainwebsites,andeasily-foundconsumersoftware
anddevices.Thisisnottosaythattheyarealwaysparagonsof
gooddesign.They'renot,andIdonotmeantoslightthe
excellentworkdonebycountlessdesignersonlesswell-known
applications.Ifyouknowofexamplesthatmightmeetthese
criteria,pleasesuggestthemtome.




COMMENTSANDQUESTIONS
Pleaseaddresscommentsandquestionsconcerningthisbookto
thepublisher:
O'ReillyMedia,Inc.
1005GravensteinHighwayNorth
Sebastopol,CA95472

(800)998-9938(intheUnitedStatesorCanada)
(707)829-0515(internationalorlocal)
(707)829-0104(fax)
Wehaveawebpageforthisbook,wherewelisterrata,
examples,andanyadditionalinformation.Youcanaccessthis
pageat:
/>Visitformoreinformation.
Tocommentorasktechnicalquestionsaboutthisbook,send
emailto:

Formoreinformationaboutourbooks,conferences,Resource
Centers,andtheO'ReillyNetwork,seeourwebsiteat: