Scripting News,January 11,2002
"Scripting News Blogger of the Year, 2001"


Book Description

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. Spolky’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 UI 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.


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(From the Introduction)

Most of the hard-core programmers I know hate user interface programming. This surprises me, because I find UI programming to be quintessentially easy, straightforward, and fun.

It’s easy because you usually don’t need algorithms more sophisticated than how to center one rectangle in another. It’s straightforward because when you make a mistake, you immediately see it and can correct it. It’s fun, because the results of your work are immediately visible. You feel like you are sculpting the program directly.

I think most programmers’ fear of UI programming comes from their fear of doing UI design. They think that UI design is like graphics design: the mysterious process by which creative, latte-drinking, all-dressed-in-black people with interesting piercings produce cool looking artistic stuff. Programmers see themselves as analytic, logical thinkers: strong at reasoning, weak on artistic judgment. So they think they can’t do UI design.

Actually, I’ve found UI design to be quite easy and quite rational. It’s not a mysterious matter that requires a degree from an art school and a penchant for neon-purple hair. There is a rational way to think about user interfaces with some simple, logical rules that you can apply anywhere to improve the interfaces of the programs you work on.

This book is not “Zen and the Art of UI Design.” It’s not art, it’s not Buddhism, it’s just a set of rules. A way of thinking rationally and methodically. This book is designed for programmers. I assume you don’t need instructions for how to make a menu bar; rather, you need to think about what to put in your menu bar (or whether to have one at all). You’ll learn the one primary axiom that guides all good UI design, and some of the corollaries. We’ll look at some examples from real life, modern GUI programs. When you’re done, you’ll know about 85% of what it takes to be a significantly better user interface designer.


About the Author
His site has been described as the "anti-Dilbert manifesto." Spolsky has designed and developed software used by millions of people, and has worked on a variety of products, from Microsoft Excel to the Juno user interface. He is the founder of Fog Creek Software in New York City.


Excerpted from User Interface Design for Programmers by Joel Spolsky. Copyright © 2001. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Most of the hard-core programmers I know hate user interface programming. This surprises me, because I find UI programming to be quintessentially easy, straightforward, and fun. It's easy because you usually don't need algorithms more sophisticated than how to center one rectangle in another. It's straightforward because when you make a mistake, you immediately see it and can correct it. It's fun, because the results of your work are immediately visible. You feel like you are sculpting the program directly. I think most programmers' fear of UI programming comes from their fear of doing UI design. They think that UI design is like graphics design: the mysterious process by which creative, latte-drinking, all-dressed-in-black people with interesting piercings produce cool looking artistic stuff. Programmers see themselves as analytic, logical thinkers: strong at reasoning, weak on artistic judgment. So they think they can't do UI design. Actually, I've found UI design to be quite easy and quite rational. It's not a mysterious matter that requires a degree from an art school and a penchant for neon-purple hair. There is a rational way to think about user interfaces with some simple, logical rules that you can apply anywhere to improve the interfaces of the programs you work on. This book is not 'Zen and the Art of UI Design.' It's not art, it's not Buddhism, it's just a set of rules. A way of thinking rationally and methodically. This book is designed for programmers. I assume you don't need instructions for how to make a menu bar; rather, you need to think about what to put in your menu bar (or whether to have one at all). You'll learn the one primary axiom that guides all good UI design, and some of the corollaries. We'll look at some examples from real life, modern GUI programs. When you're done, you'll know about 85% of what it takes to be a significantly better user interface designer. -Joel Spolsky

FROM OUR EDITORS

b>The Barnes & Noble Review
Why do so many programmers hate building user interfaces? OK, some think users are morons -- you know, "lusers." But there's a bigger reason: real insecurity about their ability to do this (allegedly) "artistic" work. Truth is, you can build really good UIs by combining a few basic rules and principles with some good-old-fashioned common sense. Joel Spolsky has gathered all these into one terrific book: User Interface Design For Programmers.

Rule No. 1, Spolsky says, is this: "A user interface is well designed when the program behaves exactly how the user thought it would." So how do you figure out what users expect, realizing that (as a programmer) you aren't one of them? Ask a few (it doesn't have to be many). And think more clearly about what you're doing.

For example, should users really have to decide how big the Help database index ought to be, when she merely wants to know how to turn an image upside down? No choice is often better than interrupting the user's workflow with a decision that's irrelevant to their goals.

Spolsky shows how to use metaphors (including when to use them, and how to avoid bad ones.) You'll see why tabbed dialogs work (except when they start jumping around "like restless children on Class Photo Day"); and why other metaphors, such as My Briefcase, were screaming failures.

Spolsky advocates designing as if your users can't read, can't use a mouse well, and "have such bad memories they would forget their own name if it weren't embossed on their American Express." (As Spolsky emphasizes, they're rarely that dumb, but are often preoccupied with more important matters.) He also offers practical guidance on using heuristics (why it's OK for Word to replace "teh" with "the," but never to tell you "It looks like you're writing a letter"?)

Spolsky offers quick introductions to the process of effective user interface design, and the realities of user interface testing (what you can legitimately discover via up-front testing, what you can't, and why you'd better make sure the developers are watching through the one-way glass). The book concludes by applying its principles to web design, with its added challenges -- the limitations of HTML, and time delay associated with round-trips to a server, which tend to make web interfaces feel clunky at best. You'll learn why less web user interface is usually better (it means users will rely on hyperlinks and their browser controls, which they might actually understand by now.)

User Interface Design For Programmers is a pleasure to read. It doesn't just demystify user interface design, it humanizes the subject. Heck, even makes it fun.(Bill Camarda)

--Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer with nearly 20 years' experience in helping technology companies deploy and market advanced products and services. He served for nearly ten years as vice president of a New Jersey-based marketing company, where he supervised a wide range of graphics and web design projects. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000.

FROM THE PUBLISHER