Re: [udig-devel] Good books on usability

[Jonathan Aquino <jonathan.aquino@xxxxxxxxx>]

Here's a thoughtful, entertaining Alan-Cooper-esque article on
software usability. I like the screenshots!

http://benroe.com/files/gui.html




On Wed, 04 Aug 2004 19:44:03 -0700, Paul Ramsey <pramsey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> The reviews on Amazon agree. But sadly, Tufte is unavailable!
> 
> 
> 
> On Wednesday, August 4, 2004, at 02:20 PM, Jonathan Aquino wrote:
> 
> > I'd like to share the following titles of excellent books on usability:
> >
> > * Envisioning Information [Edward Tufte]. A beautiful book (with
> > pop-ups!)
> >
> > * About Face [Alan Cooper]. Mostly about what's wrong with Windows,
> > but there are some gems.
> >
> > On Fri,  4 Jun 2004 20:28:22 -0400, cholmes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > <cholmes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>> Quoting Jonathan Aquino <jonathan.aquino@xxxxxxxxx>:
> >>
> >>> "uDig ... will ... make viewing, editing, and printing data ...
> >>> simple
> >>> for ordinary computer users." [uDig Requirements]
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Call me a dreamer, but wouldn't it be great if the uDig GUI were as
> >>> polished and friendly as PhotoShop? Editing data could be ... fun!
> >>> (http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/overview.html)
> >>>
> >>> May its user interface not become like the very user unfriendly GIMP
> >>> (aptly named) (http://www.wpdfd.com/editorial/wpd0504review.htm)
> >>
> >> I think if that's a serious goal then you really need to hire a
> >> full-time user interface designer from the start.  My friend is a UI
> >> designer at Adobe, he was lead UI on Album and he's moving to co-lead
> >> UI on Photoshop right now.  Photoshop employs 4 people full time just
> >> to _think_ about the UI, and a large engineering team that's committed
> >> to implemented exactly what they come up with.
> >>
> >> There's a decent blog on open source problems with user interface
> >> design:
> >> http://daringfireball.net/2004/04/spray_on_usability
> >>
> >> He basically says that open source UI suffers because for the most
> >> part
> >> it's an after thought, to be really good it needs to be designed for
> >> at
> >> the start, indeed it needs to drive development.
> >>
> >> Chris
> >>
> >> ----------------------------------------------------------
> >> This mail sent through IMP: https://webmail.limegroup.com/
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > http://jonaquino.blogspot.com
> > _______________________________________________
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> > http://udig.refractions.net
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> >
>       Paul Ramsey
>       Refractions Research
>       Email: pramsey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>       Phone: (250) 885-0632
> 
> _______________________________________________
> User-friendly Desktop Internet GIS (uDig)
> http://udig.refractions.net
> http://lists.refractions.net/mailman/listinfo/udig-devel
> 


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