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by Gary Perlman

As predicted by many visionaries, devices everywhere are getting "smarter." My
camera has a multi-modal hierarchical menu and form interface. Even my toaster
has a microprocessor. Computing is not just for computers anymore. So when the
authors wrote the subtitle "beyond human-computer interaction," they wanted to
convey that the book generalizes the human side to people, both individuals and
groups, and the computer side to desktop computers, handheld computers, phones,
cameras . . . maybe even toasters.
My own interest in this book is motivated by having been a software developer
for 20 years, during which time I was a professor and consultant for 12. Would the
book serve as a textbook for students? Would it help bring software development
practice into a new age of human-centered interaction design?

A textbook for students . . .
More than anything, I think students need to be motivated, inspired, challenged,
and I think this book, particularly Chapters 1-5, will do that. Many students will
not have the motivating experience of seeing projects and products fail because of
a lack of attention, understanding, and zeal for the user, but as I read the opening
chapters, I imagined students thinking, "This is what I've been looking for!" The in-
terviews will provide students with the wisdom of well-chosen experts: what's im-
portant, what worked (or didn't), and why. I see students making career choices
based on this motivating material.
The rest of the book covers the art and some of the science of interaction de-
sign, the basic knowledge needed by practitioners and future innovators. Chapters
6-9 give a current view of analysis, design, and prototyping, and the book's website
should add motivating examples. Chapters 10-14 cover evaluation in enough depth
to facilitate understanding, not just rote application. Chapter 15 brings it all to-
gether, adding more depth. For each topic, there are ample pointers to further
reading, which is important because interaction design is not a one-book discipline.
Finally, the book itself is pedagogically well designed. Each chapter describes
its aims, contains examples and subtopics, and ends with key points, assignments,
and an annotated bibliography for more detail.

A guide for development teams . . .
When I lead or consult on software projects, I face the same problem over and over:
many people in marketing and software development-these are the people who
have the most input into design, but it applies to any members of multidisciplinary
teams-have little knowledge or experience building systems with a user-centered