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GUI Bloopers: Don'ts and Do's for Software Developers and Web Designers
Is your application or Web site ready for prime time?
A major revision of a classic reference, GUI Bloopers 2.0 looks at user interface design bloopers from commercial software, Web sites, Web applications, and information appliances, explaining how intelligent, well-intentioned professionals make these mistakes--and how you can avoid them. While equipping you with the minimum of theory, GUI expert Jeff Johnson presents the reality of interface design in an entertaining, anecdotal, and instructive way.
* Updated to reflect the bloopers that are common today, incorporating many comments and suggestions from first edition readers.
* Takes a learn-by-example approach that teaches how to avoid common errors.
* Covers bloopers in a wide range of categories: GUI controls, graphic design and layout, text messages, interaction strategies, Web site design -- including search, link, and navigation, responsiveness issues, and management decision-making.
* Organized and formatted so information needed is quickly found, the new edition features call-outs for the examples and informative captions to enhance quick knowledge building.
* Hundreds of illustrations: both the DOs and the DON'Ts for each topic covered, with checklists and additional bloopers on www.gui-bloopers.com.
A major revision of a classic reference, GUI Bloopers 2.0 looks at user interface design bloopers from commercial software, Web sites, Web applications, and information appliances, explaining how intelligent, well-intentioned professionals make these mistakes--and how you can avoid them. While equipping you with the minimum of theory, GUI expert Jeff Johnson presents the reality of interface design in an entertaining, anecdotal, and instructive way.
* Updated to reflect the bloopers that are common today, incorporating many comments and suggestions from first edition readers.
* Takes a learn-by-example approach that teaches how to avoid common errors.
* Covers bloopers in a wide range of categories: GUI controls, graphic design and layout, text messages, interaction strategies, Web site design -- including search, link, and navigation, responsiveness issues, and management decision-making.
* Organized and formatted so information needed is quickly found, the new edition features call-outs for the examples and informative captions to enhance quick knowledge building.
* Hundreds of illustrations: both the DOs and the DON'Ts for each topic covered, with checklists and additional bloopers on www.gui-bloopers.com.
559 pages, Paperback
First published March 17, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 15, 2011
Not really a review, just some personal thoughts.
This book is a valuable resource and provides the proper theory for GUI design. I felt some examples were rather dated though. Others ignored such factors as established conventions or specific audience (which is weird, 'cause in other examples the author took notice of those things). There were also some that shifted the blame to wrong persons - like the DVD region change restrictions BS.
Oh, and throughout the whole book I wished the author would stop lumping all programmers together. The tone made it feel like it was directed to managers, not developers... it did grate on my nerves a bit too much.
This book is a valuable resource and provides the proper theory for GUI design. I felt some examples were rather dated though. Others ignored such factors as established conventions or specific audience (which is weird, 'cause in other examples the author took notice of those things). There were also some that shifted the blame to wrong persons - like the DVD region change restrictions BS.
Oh, and throughout the whole book I wished the author would stop lumping all programmers together. The tone made it feel like it was directed to managers, not developers... it did grate on my nerves a bit too much.
September 22, 2010
I liked this better than Don't Make Me Think. While that book was pretty web-centric in its advice, this focused primarily on desktop applications.
A lot of the content seemed to be full of "no-brainers", but it was pretty surprising to see some of the real-life examples from various GUIs in Operating Systems, popular applications, and relatively large websites.
A lot of the content seemed to be full of "no-brainers", but it was pretty surprising to see some of the real-life examples from various GUIs in Operating Systems, popular applications, and relatively large websites.
January 20, 2013
Solid advice on GUI design from the very first pages until the very end.
Can't say I agree on everything in the book but that was naturally expected as it always happens. The second edition of the book is very nicely updated for Web2.0 age. As an added bonus, the book also contains a few (sometimes ironic) jokes.
Can't say I agree on everything in the book but that was naturally expected as it always happens. The second edition of the book is very nicely updated for Web2.0 age. As an added bonus, the book also contains a few (sometimes ironic) jokes.
June 30, 2008
A must read for any UI developer. The bloopers range from obvious to subtle and from control alignment to project management. You'll walk away from the book resolving to do at least a few things differently, and feeling sorry for those that ended up memorialized as bad examples for others.
July 11, 2012
Probably the best book I've ever read on User Interfaces. Incredibly clear and easy to understand. You could tell he understood the psychology of web pages and apps and used them in the book. Can't say enough good things about this book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews