Recommended Reading

I have presented the items in this list in order of their usefulness to me.

• Microsoft Corporation. Visual C++ Documentation, Using Visual C++, Visual C++ Programmer's Guide, Adding User Interface Features.

While you could never learn how to design a user interface from this help information, it can be very helpful in addressing specific problems you may have when implementing your interface. I recommend reviewing this information just so you know what is out there. For some reason, this information is easy to overlook.

• Horton, William. The Icon Book: Visual Symbols for Computer Systems and Documentation. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1994.

This book is the ultimate resource for icon design information. This is possibly the most narrowly focused book on a user interface subject ever written. However, while this information is intended to help you design icons, note that the same design principles apply to other visual symbols, such as toolbar buttons, cursors, and control indicators (such as the Windows close, minimize, maximize, and restore button graphics). Chapter 2, "How Icons Work"; Chapter 3, "Representing Ideas Graphically"; and Chapter 7, "Color in Icons," all contain valuable information general enough to be useful to those who never plan to create icons but who want to improve their visual design skills. This book will help you learn how to communicate visually. If you are having trouble expressing your ideas visually, this is the first place to turn.

• Kano, Nadine. Developing International Software for Windows 95 and Windows NT. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 1995.

Presents everything you need to know about internationalizing software. This isn't a user interface design book per se, but it's a fact that much of the effort in internationalizing a program involves the user interface. This book makes it clear that creating international software is much easier to do at the beginning of the development process than at the end, so this book is a must-read if you're planning to create international software. Don't be intimidated by the heft of this book—it's a quick read.

• Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications, Second Edition. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 1998.

Provides useful guidelines for all aspects of documentation. As I discuss in the next chapter, I believe it is important to establish consistent terminology in your interface, and this book is the best source I know of to help you accomplish this goal.

• Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary, Third Edition. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 1997.

This book is a good tool for making sure you are using the right term. Again, consistent terminology is crucial in interface design, and this book also helps accomplish that goal. Of course, this book is less helpful than the Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications because the manual of style helps you understand which term to use and the dictionary just gives definitions.

• Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Windows 95 Help Authoring Kit. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 1995.

This book is a good source of information on how to integrate context-sensitive help into a program. Third-party tools are available to help this process, but this book has useful information if you plan on doing it the hard way.

• Ezzell, Ben. Developing Windows Error Messages. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly & Associates, 1998.

Discusses everything you ever wanted to know about error messages. While I think this book does an excellent job of identifying error message problems, I wouldn't use the proposed solutions presented here. Nevertheless, I find this book useful when considering error messages and error message problems.

• Thompson, Nigel. Animation Techniques in Win32. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 1995.

Despite its title, this book is an excellent resource for basic Windows graphics information, even if you never plan on doing any animation. The first three chapters provide a topnotch presentation on device-dependent bitmaps (DDBs), device-independent bitmaps (DIBs), video modes, colors, and palettes. It is essential reading if you need to do any bitmap or palette programming in your user interfaces.

• Apple Computer. Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1992.

While many user interface books have bibliographies, the one presented in Appendix B of this book is possibly the best. It has excellent coverage, is well annotated, and is not Mac-specific. Unfortunately, it is getting a bit old. Check here first if you are doing advanced research.