Human-Computer Interaction Books

"Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics" is an excellent seminal work on human factors and ergonomics. It is a well researched and well written book on the subject, well illustrated with case studies, examples, tables and figures.

The book has a comprehensive coverage of the subject and covers a wide range of subjects and applications which makes it an indispensable part of the library for human factor and ergonomics practitioners, safety managers and auditors, engineers and other specialists. This weighty tome is worth the price and should not intimidate the reader.

A definate must for the Ergo student! The book has excellent describtive definitions and is an eye opener to the world of work. It focus on a diffirent perspective on the qaulity of worklife.

Pardon the cliche but if you're only going to buy one 'hand' book (it's more like a phone book), this is the one you should get. It covers conventional physical ergonomics, as well as every other significant genre in the field.
When I'm stuck for a quality resource, I find what I need here. Ouch! I'm still paying for it though.

This book offers sound advice on almost all aspects of Second Life from social interaction to scripting, building, and texturing. It goes into fine detail on the workings of the user interface with great time saving tips and tricks for all levels of experience. It's by no means a dry technical read. The author does a good job of tying all of the topics together through examples of practical experience within Second Life.

I keep this book on my computer desk for quick reference. As an experienced user with a bloated inventory I found the topics on asset backup, inventory searches, and inventory organization extremely helpful.

I actually created a second life account and canceled it because of the frustration of not nowing how to navigate through the environment. This books is the most awesome ever for SL and how to navigate through the environment. It includes a lot of shortcut keys and scripting to further advance your knowleddge in the Second Life Environment. This book is highly recommended for those that have no idea of how to navigate the platform and would like to learn how to use the grid, create skin, camera moves, buying land, buying shapes, creating textures etc. This books discusses everything you want to know, desire to learn and more!

Lanesa Stubbs

This is the most up-to-date and comprehensive guide to SL that you'll find -- no need to look any further. It includes general information about how to get started in SL, what to do and where to go -- and it also contains easy to follow, step-by-step information about the things you are likely to be doing there: building, shopping, meeting people. Handy quick keyboard guide inside the cover that will be useful to both new users and seasoned veterans!

In this book, Eric Bergman surveys some of the most influential and thoughtful people in the user interface design world - Don Norman, Chuck Clanton, David Haitani (designer of the Palm Pilot) and more. Their comments are insightful, practical, and visionary at the same time. I particularly liked the chapters by David Haitani and the one by Chuck Clanton on computer game design. This book will be helpful to anyone who has designed software user interfaces for desktop machines or web sites and is now wondering what the brave new world of wireless devices might look like.

I find that I like read the chapters in order of what interests me, not necessarily in the order they are bound together in the book. And that is a strength of the book - it acts more like a reference than like a novel. In this way, it reminds me of Brenda Laurel's excellent book "The Art of Human Computer Interaction."

Many information technology designers forget that the purpose of product design is not to display technical virtuosity, it is to help their users solve problems in the real world. This book, alone among those I've read, confronts this issue in a compelling and useful way. It's a "must read" for anyone thinking seriously about how to design information products.

Well written and interesting to read, Information Appliances & Beyond is the lone book (at least that I've come across) that helps product designers create Information Appliances. The Interview with the creator of the Palm Pilot is excellent, as are the examples of the Nokia 7110 mobile phone, and the i-opener. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the future of consumer computing.

The ten or so others out there who have read this monster are probably experiencing a facial tic at my suggestion that it be required reading for all who design software. Its not a quick read, but its definately a page turner. I couldn't put it down.

I'm serious.

For me, a guy with a solid background in networking and systems architecture but without the classical human factors education required for intelligent product design this one document did a far better job of firmly rooting me in the basics than anything else.

Mad props to Norman and Neilsen for pointing me in this direction in the first place. But with this book I finally felt "full."

There were a solid list of findings I'd never heard of until I'd opened this book. Not only did this book introduce me to these sorts of things, it also illustrated them to me. I walked away understanding.

Like all of my other faves, this book is opened often. I've bought many copies for friends (with friends like me...) and I reference it often.

Its notable that the most leading edge work today related to this topic is being driven by the same guys who wrote this book so long ago. Its among my top five most suggested books for those I know who want to take their design to the next level.

Most of us who have written GUI design books gained much of our knowledge of human-computer interaction from reading this early book. This book, though little known outside of academic Human-Computer Interaction circles, is one of the most heavily-cited books in the field. It is *the* classic source.

Designing human-computer interfaces is still an art, learned best by creating many interfaces and carefully observing how real users interact with them. However, there are many tools from cognitive psychology that, if understood and applied, can yeild at least two benefits. First, by learning what is known about how humans operate, you can avoid many pitfalls in design. Second, you can make quantitative design decisions.

This book, though nearly 20 years old, contains much essential material that is unknown to many practitioners in the field! If you are designing interfaces, on the Web, for PCs, or for information appliances, you should read and understand the basic material in this book, which can never go out of date as long as humans use keyboards and mice with their hands and scan the screen with their eyes.

My own recent book, The Humane Interface, is -- in many aspects -- just following in the footsteps of this pathbreaking, pioneering, and important work.

Or perhaps we will write it by and by. We have the clues left at the end of _TSOG_. Perhaps the tail of the tribe will keep wagging, letting us know about Sirius happiness.

It's been a long wait since RAW's last book, but it was worth it, and not just for all us fans who have been checking his web-site regularly for the new "thoughts of the week" that tick in irregularly. The old standards are of course still here: Korzybski, Joyce, Leary, but with a new twist. Treating the internet and spending quite some time on an extended analogy between the net and the mind (who would have thought Leary's 8-circuit model would be illuminating here?), he discusses the possibilities for using the net in an individually liberatory way, both to enter into and try out alternate viewpoints and to undermine traditional "power structures" and institutions.

THIS BOOK IS NOT YET FINISHED. Whatever the previous reviewer read (if anything) must have been a rough draft, although he could have known about the subject material without even reading a draft since Wilson has been talking about this book at his public appearances since since at least 2000. For references see "Disinformation the complete series" or some of the CDs on Amazon.

Again this book is NOT published. Regardless what Amazon's information may say. According to New Falcon, the release has been delayed due to Wilson's health and unfortunately, may never be published.

Bob, if you read this, you have many fans who hope you are not suffering and wish you the best.

Work and Rewards is chock full of useful information. Crandall and Wallace write mainly for organizations that resemble their clients -- corporations that manufacture goods for profit. But I think this book is even of value for non-profits. While obviously helpful for human resource people, this book would be beneficial reading for CEOs, top organizational leaders, and even frontline supervisors.

"The job is dead," the authors declare. "Job" is part of the "old deal" marked by cradle-to-grave security. "The New Deal will require us to act as adults, not children." Employees will be increasingly responsible for acquiring the skills needed by their employers. Narrow job descriptions are already giving way to broader, more flexible skill sets. The authors claim this shift will help organizations run more effectively and will increase worker satisfaction.

Don't be mistaken; Work and Rewards is not a pie-in-the-sky futurists dream. It is based on the real life experiences the authors have had with dozens of clients, including Sony, Corning, and others. Work and Rewards is packed with practical models, steps, outlines, case studies, plans, and formulas. These tools can help organizations evaluate the cost of going virtual, determine what key drivers the organization wants to reward, and how to manage the transition.

I highly recommend Work and Rewards.

Chapters include:

1. Forging a New Compact Between People and Technology
2. Working in the Virtual Workplace
3. Exploring the Virtual Workplace
4. Work Design
5. Skills and Competencies
6. Rewards in the Virtual Workplace
7. The Blended Workforce
8. The Economics of the Virtual Workplace
9. Getting to the New Deal in the Virtual Workplace

"Economic and technological forces have converged in this last decade of the twentieth century to create an entirely new form of business competition. The New Competition", N. Fredric Crandall and Marc J. Wallace, JR. write, "encompasses a global economy and is driven by information rather than product and by time rather than space, creating a revolution in the way we do business...The New Competition has emerged in three parallel developments: (1). Former competitors forming alliances to command the market, (2). New marriages of technology, markets, and opportunity, and (3). The creation of new business entities that replace traditional ones, defining the entire length of a value chain-a form of organization that has been characterized as the virtual organization...The virtual organization requires a virtual workplace. The virtual workplace is a work environment where goods and services are created and delivered joining employees beyond the traditional bounds of time and place. Technology is a foundation for the virtual workplace, creating the means for innovations in working relationship such as teams of people who work together via teleconferencing or transfer work in progress from one venue to the next across time zones to keep work going on a continuous basis."

In this context, in Chapter Six, they examine how the role of rewards and compensation changes when an organization evolves from a traditional to a virtual workplace. Firstly, they define job in a traditional organization and argue: "The job concept served traditional organizations well. Work has been organized in a command-and-conrol bureaucracy characterized by functional specifications and hierarchy. It is a paradigm shaped by early twentieth-century thinking of Max Weber and Frederick W. Taylor, implemented by Henry Ford, and cast in the legislation of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal of the 1930s. Unfortunatelly the paradigm no longer serves us because the job has died. Globalization of production and technological revolution have forced us into a post-industrial model for producing goods and services. The work designs of the virtual workplace have forced companies to tear down hierarchy do away with functional specialization, and organize all activities according to entire business processes that cut across traditional departments and occupations."

Hence, they compare traditional and virtual base pay models, and argue that in the new workplace people are paid not for the job they hold but for the role they are expected to play.

I. Base Pay Model in the Traditional Workplace:

1. Unit of analysis: Job

2. Basis for determining value: Job evaluation

3. What pay is for: Work performed

4. Base pay progression: (a). Modest movement within grades to mid-point. Pay is controlled to mid-point. (b). Promotion required for significant advancement.

5. Base pay structure: Many narrow grades, hierarchically arranged.

II. Base Pay Model in the Virtual / New Paradigm Workplace:

1. Unit of analysis: Personal role

2. Basis for determining value: Personal evaluation

3. What is pay for: Capacity to perform

4. Base pay progression: Significant movement from entry rate to target rate based on capacity acquisition.

5. Base pay structure: Few, broad bands

Finally, they define this new paradigm as skill-or-competency-based pay, and argue: " the base pay progression policy that best serves the virtual workplace is skill-or competency-based pay.

I highly recommend.

Like the industrial revolution before it, the Information Age is giving rise to new types of organizations, new ways of working, and new approaches to human resource management. This technology-driven economy, with its virtual realities, is profoundly reshaping the nature of relationships between organizations, as well as between the organization and the individual.

On a macro level, the authors aim to show how a new social contract (New Deal) is developing between individuals and organizations, replacing the traditional employer-employee relationship. Through this virtual revolution, the conflict, as many see and experience it today, between people and technology will be overcome. And free market dynamics make it inevitable that virtual organizations will and must continue emerging.

Moving from the macro to the micro, the authors explore some of the pivotal changes taking place today; changes in the nature of the workplace, the design of work, the use of competencies, the characteristics of reward systems, learning, career opportunities, and staffing. Numerous tables and diagrams, as well as illustrations from company experiences, highlight key points and make the distinctions between traditional and virtual workplaces vivid. There is a lot to be gained from each chapter. Guidelines are presented to help practitioners address their needs for taking action. The authors are also helpful in laying bare serious problems that companies have faced in applying such concepts as skill- or competency-based pay and broad bands which I, as a consultant in organization and compensation, welcome seeing in print. Additionally, the authors present a model to demonstrate the economic value of the virtual workplace. This is an excellent book, impressive in scope and rich in substance.

As an excellent guide to getting started with accessibility and a must-have for anyone's reference collection, this book truly lives up to its name "Understanding the Section 508 Accessibility Requirements." Having been an Accessibility tester for 2.5 years now, I recommend this book to anyone working with or considering Accessibility support.(...)

I know that Mr. Mueller writes great books--from reading other books he's written. You can rely on his depth of research, and the clarity of this writing. If you're interested in Accessibility, you'll find it thoroughly covered here.

This book has many of the classic articles about computers and our society. The GNU Manifesto is included. There is an excellent article about whistle-blowing. I read this text many years ago in my Computer Ethics course. I really enjoyed the class and this book.

As a teacher of a course entitled "Information technology in a global society" i have found this book an excellent resource for both myself and my students alike. It's simple enough for an entry level reader (I have had kids as young as 11 discussing the ethical considerations presented in the book). While on the other hand it contains enough specifics and case studies to make it a suitable source for high school students preparing papers on a variety of topical issues.

What I love is that you can pick up the book and find the relavant information your looking for without having to read the whole book.

A huge contribution to a rapidly developing area of our lives and the future. Written with balance and interest it informs, yet poses further questions of pertinent relevance. Excellent value and of huge use to me in my Geography studies.

Very nice book with a lot of interesting thoughts about how cyberspace can be conceptualised. If you are interested in a more theoretical approach,then you have to buy this book. Social, political, economic implications of cyberspace are discussed, very helpfull handbook if you're working on empirical studies in/about cyberspace.

The correspondence between this work and that of Alan Cooper (The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity and About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design) are staggering. Dr. Endsley and her co-writers rail about how a technology focus leads to poor user interfaces, and recommend a user-centered design approach including "Goal-directed Task Analysis." Alan Cooper rails about how a technology focus leads to poor user interfaces and recommends a user-focused approach he calls "Goal-Directed Design." The difference between this book and Cooper's books is the wealth of dramatic examples and underlying research in Designing for Situation Awareness.

Situation Awareness refers to the OO of the OODA loop - getting input from the environment - Observing - and understanding the significance of that input now and in the future - Orienting. It is a concept used widely in aviation, medicine, and the military - areas where life and death decisions are routinely made based on situation awareness.

One study cited in this book identifies flawed situation awareness as the root cause of 88% of aircraft crashes due to human error. In the remaining 12% the wrong decision was made or there was a problem with execution. With these sobering figures, this book lays out design guidelines to enhance situation awareness.

A formal situation awareness design approach would involve realistic prototyping and rigorous testing as you'd expect for anything related to aviation or medicine. This book provides 50 concrete design principles in six different areas to assist this formal design cycle, but as the book says: "These principles can be applied to a wide range of systems from a variety of domains where achieving and maintaining SA [Situation Awareness] is challenging."

Anyone designing interfaces to support situation awareness or quick comprehension - like performance dashboards - can learn from this book. Unlike software design examples, the examples in this book contain flight numbers and phrases like "killing all aboard" that underscore how very critical situation awareness is, and how driven the authors are to help raise the standards of design.

The only minor criticism I can level is a feeling that this book was rushed together; but with the critical importance of the topic I can see why. I look forward to the recently announced second edition.

This is a Should Read for anyone involved with the design of information technology to support complex problem-solving and decision-making in any setting. It's a Must Read for anyone working with highly dynamic situations or critical situation management, including emergency and disaster response. Dr. Endsley and her co-authors not only lay out a very thorough explanation of the design challenges imposed by human cognitive behaviors and limitations, but also review in depth the research that reveals these behaviors and limitations. They then present a very comprehensive set of guidelines for addressing these challenges in design.

Chapter 4 should be required reading for all user interface design practitioners and students. In this chapter, Dr. Endsley (who comes from the human factors and ergonomics field) and her colleagues lay out a much better description of the process of designing and developing user interface software than any I have seen anywhere in the human-computer interaction or software engineering literature.

This book is the result of years of exhaustive research that sets a gold standard for use-inspired basic research. It is useful to researchers as well as practitioners. I am in awe of the quality of the work and the quality of the results.