I’m not certain that it has been published anywhere else, but I find it to be hilarious. Hint: West of the Golden Gate Bridge.
For months I had been looking forward to the release of Dan Saffer’s new book, Designing For Interaction: Creating Smart Applications and Clever Devices. I had the pleasure of receiving a pre-release PDF of Dan’s new book, and an unexpected thing occurred: I couldn’t read it.
I opened Dan’s PDF several times on my computer, and found myself reading about four or five pages before I was unable to continue. It’s not that I didn’t find Dan’s easy-to-read conversational style intriguing; rather, on my 12″ Apple Powerbook I simply couldn’t interact with a book that had been designed for print.
Luckily, the print copy showed up in the mail soon thereafter; the fact that Push Button For’s mascot (and the inspiration for the name of this web site) is on the cover of Dan’s book made me giggle with anticipatory joy. And now, my findings.
Dan’s book is 98% the best primer on Interaction Design in existence (in 2006). He cuts a bold and crisp swath across the myriad disciplines that relate to Interaction Design, and does an excellent job characterizing the similarities and differences between our discipline and those of our coworkers and colleagues. In all of his examples, interviews, and descriptions of methodologies he uses language that any Product Manager, Engineer, or CXO can grok. If you are a student headed toward any sort of Design or Software Engineering degree and don’t have this book as a reference, then shame on you.
“So Gino, what about that other 2%?”
Designing For Interaction cites numerous historical facts and industry-defining moments, professes copious amounts of penetrating points, and covers so much ground on the field that at every corner, I found myself wondering, “Maaaan, I’d like to read more about that topic!” And then the frustration would set in; nowhere in the book is there a bibliography, footnote, or reference to where I might find more about the material that helped inspire Dan to write this book.
All said, Dan has created a bold and pioneering work, and has successfully taken a brave step in defining our ever-evolving field. In my ten or eleven years in this industry, I’ve not yet come across a better outline and definition. I could give this book to my parents, and they might finally really understand what I do!
We designers tend to be a cantankerous bunch, and I think any last one of us would have a hard time arguing against much of anything presented in these pages. The book is charismatic, thoughtful, and it is crafted with extreme attention to what good Interaction Design means, and what it means to be a good Interaction Designer.
Grade: A-
(P.S. An accompanying Biblio on the web site would convince me to change the grade to an A)
IDEA 2006, at least in theory, may be the most interesting, useful and innovative conference for Interaction Designers to date. Organized by my colleague from years long gone by, Peter Merholz, IDEA promises to be a thought fest stuffed with presenters from a colorful array of backgrounds. Here is how IDEA opens its web site:
IDEA 2006 brings together a diverse set of designers, creators, and researchers addressing a fundamental challenge we’re facing today - how to let everyday people take true advantage of the overwhelming mass of information that floods their lives.
There are currently many different kinds of folks working in this space, but they typically don’t talk with one another. For this event, we’ve made an effort to invite presenters across a stunning array of disciplines - museum design, information visualization, librarians, environmental design, user research, engineering, interaction design, product strategy, and more.
It’s important to recognize that this is not airy-fairy theoretical stuff. These presenters are practitioners, people actually doing this cross-channel, cross-media work with complex information. A primary goal of this conference is to give you the confidence to cross boundaries and engage with a wide range of problems.
Any time a leader from the United States National Park Service Interpretive Design Center is going to share information about why their materials and experiences are so tightly integrated, I’m all ears. There will be speakers from the BBC, the Seattle Library, Maya Design, and more; Linda Stone and Bruce Sterling are presenting.
Oh, and to top it off, the conference is happening at the new Seattle Library; the ultimate in neoarchitecture information space geekery! Will I see you there?
