Alan Cooper s About Face

Cooper, Alan. About Face: The Essentials of User Interface Design. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., 1995.

This book takes a comprehensive look at user interface design. It covers the goals of user interface design, how to deal with various implementation problems, the behavior of programs, interaction techniques, and the major user interface elements, such as windows, menus, dialog boxes, message boxes, toolbars, and controls. While the treatment of the subject matter ranges from practical to philosophical, Cooper discusses all of these subjects with incredible insight. His book includes more good ideas and observations about user interfaces and user interface design than any other book I have read. Best of all, the book is enjoyable to read and full of excellent examples.

A number of Cooper's chapters are masterpieces of user interface analysis. For example, Chapter 5, "Idioms and Affordance," gives an excellent analysis of metaphors vs. idioms. Chapter 11, "Orchestration and Flow," includes a great discussion on how to keep users focused on their work and not on the program. Chapter 12, "Posture and State," defines the different types of programs (postures) based on how they are used and how their type influences the appearance on the screen (state). Chapter 13, "Overhead and Idiocy," discusses how to recognize and eliminate unnecessary tasks. Chapter 21, "Dialog Boxes" discusses when and when not to use dialog boxes and compares the different types of dialog boxes. And Chapter 23, "Toolbars" compares menus to toolbars and makes it clear that menus are for teaching and toolbars are for convenience. Each of these chapters is a must-read.

Cooper is not shy about taking controversial views on many user interface subjects. Happily, I agree with most of them. For example, he thinks that user interface metaphors are overrated: "There is an infinity of idioms waiting to be invented, but only a limited set of metaphors waiting to be discovered. Metaphors give first-timers a penny's worth of value but cost them many dollars' worth of problems as they continue to use the software." He believes that dialog boxes should be avoided: "Dialogs, for good or ill, interrupt the interaction and make the user react to the program instead of driving it." "A dialog box is another room. Have a reason to go there." "Dialogs break flow." And Cooper knows that usability testing is not a substitute for design: "The chief drawback of usability is that it sidesteps actual design. The process of testing is very different from the process of design. Design springs directly from the knowledge of goals. Usability derives from specific objects." Good stuff.

This is not to say that I agree with all his ideas. I find some of them downright loopy. For example, Cooper suggests that companies should establish a pronounced proprietary look for their programs: "As a software publisher, you can personalize your entire application. By putting identifying marks on all of the components of the program, you help in creating a branded product." He suggests that a good alternative to negative audible feedback (that is, beeping) is positive audible feedback: "Our programs would be much friendlier and easier to use if they issued barely audible but easily identifiable sounds when user actions were correct. The program could issue a soft `coo' every time the user entered valid input to a field." Cooper also argues that it is better to allow users to enter questionable data into a database than to bother users with error messages when they enter questionable data: "Data integrity is a good concept on paper, but it dumps the burden of entering correct data in the user's lap rather than when—and if—the correct data is actually needed." He also proposes that programs should indicate that a drag operation has been cancelled by displaying a giant red "Drag Cancelled" stamp in the middle of the screen and by making a "thump" sound effect. Sorry, I don't think so.

I also think there are problems in the book's presentation. There is a bit too much attitude, too much ranting, and too much harsh language. I also believe there are too many unsupported opinions and too many analogies.

Despite its problems, however, what this book has is understanding and insight—and plenty of it. Even Cooper's worst ideas are worthwhile reading in that they are thought-provoking. The goal of reading this book shouldn't be to adopt Cooper's ideas without question but to let Cooper widen your thinking about user interface design and help you develop a better understanding of the fundamental user interface components. In my case, this book has helped me understand user interface design more than any other.

This is a must-have book.