Authors:
Author's Web site Joel on Software is among the most popular independent sites for programmers with between 5,000-15,000 page views daily. His site has been called the "anti-Dilbert manifesto" and quoted on Salon, Le Monde, The Motley Fool and others
Has numerous examples of how to improve common programs
Focuses on design elements applicable to all programming languages
Does not assume prior programming knowledge nor any specific language
Limited competition to this book - what books that are available are usually "laundry lists" of actual bugs or rants against "bad UI" or too focused solely on Web sites
Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
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Table of contents (18 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
Most programmers' fear of user interface (UI) programming comes from their fear of doing UI design. They think that UI design is like graphic design—the mysterious process by which creative, latte-drinking, all-black-wearing people produce cool-looking, artistic pieces. Most programmers see themselves as analytic, logical thinkers instead—strong at reasoning, weak on artistic judgment, and incapable of doing UI design.
In this brilliantly readable book, author Joel Spolsky proposes simple, logical rules that can be applied without any artistic talent to improve any user interface, from traditional GUI applications to websites to consumer electronics. Spolsky's primary axiom, the importance of bringing the program model in line with the user model, is both rational and simple.
In a fun and entertaining way, Spolky makes user interface design easy for programmers to grasp. After reading User Interface Design for Programmers, you'll know how to design interfaces with the user in mind. You'll learn the important principles that underlie all good UI design, and you'll learn how to perform usability testing that works.
Reviews
From the reviews:
"He picks apart commercial products from big companies, showing their UI mistakes. I love that."
Dr. Dobb's Journal
"The author of a popular independent website gives you a book about what programmers need to know about user interface design. Spolsky concentrates especially on the common mistakes that too many programs exhibit. Most programmers dislike user interface programming, but this book makes it easy, straightforward, and fun. It is written with an audience of programmers in mind, but does not assume any prior programming knowledge nor any specific programming language." (Amazon.co.uk, April, 2001)
"This book offers many useful pointers on designing user interfaces which even experienced programmers should need. The 18 chapters cover topics ranging from effective use of colour to metaphors and usability testing. Underlined throughout is the most fundamental principle that ‘a user interface is well designed when the program behaves how the user thought it would’. The style is informal, humorous and anecdotal. There are numerous examples of design at its worst, each with an explanation of why the design is poor." (Richard Avery, The Computer Bulletin, March, 2002)
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: User Interface Design for Programmers
Authors: Joel Spolsky
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4302-0857-0
Publisher: Apress Berkeley, CA
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eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive
Copyright Information: Joel Spolsky 2001
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-893115-94-1Published: 26 June 2001
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4302-0857-0Published: 01 January 2008
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 144
Number of Illustrations: 12 b/w illustrations, 342 illustrations in colour
Topics: Computer Graphics, Software Engineering/Programming and Operating Systems