About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design, 4th Edition

The essential interaction design guide, fully revised and updated for the mobile age

About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design, Fourth Edition is the latest update to the book that shaped and evolved the landscape of interaction design. This comprehensive guide takes the worldwide shift to smartphones and tablets into account.  New information includes discussions on mobile apps, touch interfaces, screen size considerations, and more. The new full-color interior and unique layout better illustrate modern design concepts.

The interaction design profession is blooming with the success of design-intensive companies, priming customers to expect “design” as a critical ingredient of marketplace success. Consumers have little tolerance for websites, apps, and devices that don’t live up to their expectations, and the responding shift in business philosophy has become widespread. About Face is the book that brought interaction design out of the research labs and into the everyday lexicon, and the updated Fourth Edition continues to lead the way with ideas and methods relevant to today’s design practitioners and developers.

Updated information includes:

• Contemporary interface, interaction, and product design methods
• Design for mobile platforms and consumer electronics
• State-of-the-art interface recommendations and up-to-date examples
• Updated Goal-Directed Design methodology

Designers and developers looking to remain relevant through the current shift in consumer technology habits will find About Face to be a comprehensive, essential resource.

Table of Contents

Part I: Goal-Directed Design
CH 1: A Design Process for Digital Products
CH 2: Understanding the Problem: Design Research
CH 3: Modeling Users: Personas and Goals
CH 4: Setting the Vision: Scenarios and Design Requirements
CH 5: Designing the Product: Framework and Refinement
CH 6: Creative Teamwork

Part II: Designing Behavior and Form
CH 7: A Basis for Good Product Behavior
CH 8: Digital Etiquette
CH 9: Platform and Posture
CH 10: Optimizing for Intermediates
CH 11: Orchestration and Flow
CH 12: Reducing Work and Eliminating Excise
CH 13: Metaphors, Idioms, and Affordances
CH 14: Rethinking Data Entry, Storage, and Retrieval
CH 15: Preventing Errors and Informing Decisions
CH 16: Designing for Different Needs
CH 17: Integrating Visual Design

Part III: Interaction Details
CH 18: Designing for the Desktop
CH 19: Designing for Mobile and Other Devices
CH 20: Designing for the Web
CH 21: Design Details: Controls and Dialogs