Acknowledgements

When I was 17 years old, I met the girl who eventually became my wife. Her name is Christine Rose Pearson. Without her, none of this means anything. To Christine: thank you for being my inspiration.

Of course, this book could never have been written without my editor, Wendy Sharp. Aside from knowing exactly how to get me to write the best book I possibly could, she was smart enough to know what needed to be edited, and wise enough to know what didn't. Wendy, you are a master of your craft, and I am very lucky to have been able to work with you.

To Seth Godin, Jason Fried, Ryan Carson, Josh Williams, and Abe Fettig: thank you for your wonderful contributions to this book, and for proving it's possible to design the obvious.

To my friend and partner at 33Inc, Kris Hadlock: thank you for being one of those rare developers who really understands the importance of a good user experience.

To Hilal Sala: thank you for making things run so smoothly during the production process and for your care and diligence.

To Nancy Davis: thank you for jumping in at the end, right when you were needed the most, to tie up all the loose ends and send this book out into the world.

To Jacqueline Aaron, my copy editor: your insight and skill have helped make this a great book. Thank you for your dedication, and for caring enough to speak up.

To Andreas Schueller and Mimi Heft: thank you for turning my rough design into the polished work of art that graces this book's cover. Without you, it wouldn't be nearly as good. To Amy Standen, thanks for your incredible attention to detail, and for providing the second, third and fourth set of eyes that we needed to proof everything.

To Joan Olson, the book's interior designer: you did a perfect job on this one. I couldn't be happier. Thanks for your incredible attention to detail.

Finally, to the authors and designers that have most inspired me to rise up and design the obvious: thank you to Hillman Curtis, Jesse James Garrett, Alan Cooper, Steve Krug, Donald Norman, and Seth Godin (again). You showed me the light, armed me with knowledge, and sent me on my way. Since then, I've had a few revelations of my own, but I couldn't have done it without you.

Author Biography

Robert Hoekman, Jr., is a professional Interaction Designer and Usability Specialist who has worked with GoDaddy.com, Macromedia, Adobe, United Airlines, Cisco Systems, and countless others to provide superior user experiences to a wide range of audiences.

In addition to his other writing credits, Robert authored the movie-based training course Flash User Experience Best Practices, the Flash design basics book Flash Out of the Box, and the seven-part InformIT.com series "Designing the Obvious."

Fantastic. I knew it was something simple like that.