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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)