About Face 2.0(c) The Essentials of Interaction Design

Much in the world of interface design has changed since the first edition of About Face was published in 1995. However, much remains the same. The second edition of About Face retains what still holds true, updates those things that have changed, and provides new material reflecting not only how the industry has changed in the last seven years, but also many new concepts the authors have developed in their practice to address the changing times.

Here are some highlights of the major changes you will find in About Face 2.0:

• The book has been entirely reorganized to present its ideas in, what the authors hope, is a much more easy to use reference structure. The book is divided into three sections: the first deals with process and high-level ideas about users and design; the second deals with high-level interaction design principles; and the third deals with lower-level interface design principles.

• Building on concepts first introduced by Alan Cooper in The Inmates Are Running the Asylum (SAMS, 1999) several new chapters lay out in more detail the process of Goal-Directed Design, including research techniques, creation of personas, and how to use personas and scenarios to synthesize interaction design solutions.

• The book makes more of an effort to address issues specific to non-desktop platforms. Chapters 37 and 38 address interaction and interface design for the Web and for device platforms, respectively.

• Terminology and examples in the book have been updated, where possible, to reflect the current state of the art in the industry, and the text as a whole has been thoroughly edited to improve clarity and readability.

We hope that readers will find these additions and changes as rewarding to read as the authors found them to write.