Designing Interfaces : Patterns for Effective Interaction Design

Users demand applications that are well behaved, good-looking, and easy to use. Your clients or managers demand originality and a short time to market. The good news' UI technology has evolved into a set of best practices and reusable ideas for a wide range of interactive applications today. And Designing Interfaces is a bestseller because it's one of the few reliable resources available to guide you.

This book captures UI best practices as design patterns -- solutions to common design problems, tailored to the situation at hand. The updated edition now includes patterns for mobile apps, social networks, and search interfaces, as well as web applications and desktop software. Each pattern contains examples in full color, and practical advice that you can put to use immediately.

Design engaging and usable interfaces with more confidence and less guesswork

Learn key design concepts that are often misunderstood, such as affordances, visual hierarchy, navigational distance, and the use of color

Get recommendations for using specific UI patterns, along with alternatives, and warnings on when not to use them

Learn concrete UI ideas that you can mix and recombine as you see fit

Experienced designers can use Designing Interfaces as a sourcebook of ideas. Novice designers will find a roadmap to the world of interface and interaction design, with enough guidance to start using these patterns right away.

"This is a definitely good book to study before you set out to design some new application or website and maybe an inspiration to revisit existing material." - John Collins, news@UK, September 2006

"Anyone who's serious about designing interfaces should have this book on their shelf for reference. It's the most comprehensive cross-platform examination of common interface patterns anywhere." -Dan Saffer, author of Designing Gestural Interfaces (O'Reilly) and Designing for Interaction (New Riders)