When I started looking for information on how to perform usability tests, this book was the most recommended. After reading through the book, I have to agree that this book is excellent at covering all aspects you’ll need to get started.

I when through about every iteration of usability testing that Jeffrey Rubin suggested. I started with being in the room, with others watching. Then I moved everyone out of the room, and had them watch remotely. Finally, I removed even myself, and performed the entire test remotely from my office. To accomplish this, I used an Axis ethernet camera to watch the participant, VNC to remotely watch the participant’s screen, Camtasia Studio to record the session and screen, and a flash application to provide scenarios and log time.

While this book will get you started, it doesn’t teach you everything. You can only learn the rest through studies in statistics, psychology, and experience. When it comes to usability testing and reliable results, everything becomes a factor: Did I assist too much? Was my voice too threatening? Was my scenario ill written? Was the participant having a bad day? Does the participant truly match my target audience?

But, you can worry about the accuracy after you learn the process. Start with this book. You won’t be sorry. No matter how bad you perform a usability test, you’re bound to learn something of value that will make it all worth while.

Rowena Reed Kostellow, was a design educator at the Pratt Institute. Her and her husband pioneered a comprehensive program in industrial design. This book is part history, part biography, and part instructional of Mrs. Kostellow life and design process.

People like Mrs. Kostellow amaze me. The live in a world of aesthetics. They find the beauty in things as the utmost importance. They can spend all day analyzing the particulars of a bend of wire, and only quit because they’re too tired to continue.

I found this book entertaining from a history aspect, inspirational from a biography aspect, and educational from a instructional aspect. You only read about half of this book. The rest is a series of projects to perform in analyzing objects in the third dimension. There’s plenty in this book to take away. There’s also hours of activities to be performed and reviewed. Whether or not you’re working in three dimensional design, this book still provides valuable lessons and exercises in design thinking.

For those of you who don’t know who Nancy Duarte, or Duarte Design as a company is, look no further than the Oscar Award winning movie, An Inconvenient Truth. The creators of that impactful, and powerful presentation where those of Duarte Design.

I learned about Nancy Duarte’s book from Presentation Zen. I have to say the there are a lot of parallels between Garr Reynolds’ book and this one. They both cover slide design, development, story, etc.

There are two aspects I really liked about Nancy Duarte’s book. First, I really like the several pages of slide visualization concepts found toward the beginning of the book. The second, was the part about templates. I despise templates, because they promote a person to use Power Point to build your presentation. But, as Nancy points out, if you build a template that depicts all the different slide types that should be used, you’ll help create a more uniform and professional presentation.

Worth the money, the time, and has been a great source of reference for me.

This is the first book on user experience that I have not liked. I’m sorry Bill Buxton, but however gifted you are in design, you are not a writer, and a horrible presenter. Rather than buy this book, I would recommend you stroll on down to your local library and simply browse this book. There’s good information here, but nothing you can’t glean in a single afternoon.

One point Buxton really tries to drive home, is that not everyone is a designer. That if you don’t get “design,” you can’t be part of our little club.

While I agree that being a designer does take a certain person, I think it’s wrong to not invite more people into the discussion. As Buxton himself so aptly points out, “design is compromise.” And, making the design process this great intangible, will only alienable the very people who’s feedback and cooperation to so desperately need.

What I did like about this book was Buxton’s views on sketching. I like the sketch iterations that he discussed. That it is important to leave certain designs in a state of “incompleteness.” If designs that you’re working on looks too well thought out, it can prevent further discussion.

Again, don’t buy this book. Borrow it, read it at your local library, whatever. Once you’re done with it, you won’t find yourself desiring to read it again.

Towards the end of watching a terrible Bill Buxton prestation video on youtube, I heard him mention this book. As the completely impressionable person that I am, I immediately went to Amazon.com and bought it. It is well worth the money and time.

The book is short. If you wanted, you could read it in a weekend. But that doesn’t mean there is lack of content. The ideas expressed in this book are dense, and well thought out. I actually read it quite slow. Reading a few pages, then chewing on reach concept, and thinking of how each applied to my current work environment.

The book is actually written for company managers. An interaction design manifesto, that’s short – sweet – and persuasive, as a way to try and get management behind the idea and process of design. Each topic is reinforced with anecdotes from the authors life.

One thing that frustrated me with the book, was Scott’s first design break. He redesigns his microwave interface. Having been so angered over my own microwave interface, I planned to make a big long blog post about it’s redesign. I was bummed to find my original idea was not so original.

Whether you’re an interaction designer, or a manager trying to figure out what all these design junkies and smoking, this book has been the best that I’ve read, to put it all in something quickly digestible.

A while back I finished Steve Mulder’s book, The User Is Always Right, a practical guide to creating and using personas for the web. After finishing it, it kind of sat around for a few weeks, but has recently become part of my right hand. The chapters on qualitative and quantitative data gathering have been incredibly helpful.

Recently, my friend Justin and I were considering the development of a web application for the Boy Scouts of America. This was a great opportunity to put the topic of data gathering to work. In the end, we set up a meeting with a local council member. Was it ever an eye opener.

For starters, we learned that much of what we perceived to be useful from the outside, looking in, wasn’t. The things that we thought up that were useful, were already done by other companies (poorly, I might add, but still existed). And last, our meager reasonable price point ended up being way outside the normal Boy Scout budget. In the end, for the cost of a cup of coffee, we learned enough to scrap the project. Which, I might add, is a lot cheaper than building out something and having it fail.

“Do not propose solutions until the problem has been discussed as thoroughly as possible without suggesting any.”
~ Norman R. F. Maier

Anyway, excellent book. I highly recommend it for learning about approaches for designing ANY kind of product; whether it’s for the web, desktop, service, whatever.

I finished reading the book Presentation Zen this morning, by Garr Reynolds. Garr, is the blogger who runs presentationzen.com, a site I frequent and subscribe to. Garr’s book compiles much of the tips, tricks, styles, and suggestions you’ll find reading though the many posts on his blog. It’s an easy read, concise, picturesque, and informative.

As an interaction designer, I find myself presenting more and more. One reason, is that the company I work for doesn’t have design and usability fully integrated into the development process of our products. Bringing in new ideas, concepts, and work flows is best done via presentation and discussion.

There is a lot that can be learned, as an Interaction Designer, from presenting. It forces you to think objectively about how to engage and audience. It teaches you voice, pace, and concentration. It allows you instant feedback from your audience, as you watch their body language and hear their questions. It’s also an exercise in flow, story, and simplifying complex ideas into simple forms.

We should all learn to present, and Garr’s book is a wonderful first step.

I recently finished reading the book “Design Of Everyday Things,” by Donald Norman.  I have know doubt that this is required reading for those going through an educational system for Interactive Design.  The book, as the title suggests, is about how to design things with their express usability in mind.

One careful point that Donald Norman makes in the book, is that even professionals, who go through great lengths in order to create a usable product, can make disastrous mistakes in design. For Donald, it was initially naming his book, “Psychology Of Everyday Things.” In doing so, he unwittingly cast his book into the psychology section of book stores and libraries. This left his work unnoticed and forgotten by designers who would have benefited from it the most.

Whether you are an aspiring Interaction Designer, Interior Decorator, Architect, Civil Engineer, or just someone who wants to gain new perspective about the things around them, this is a highly recommended book to enjoy.