Laura Arlov s GUI Design for Dummies

Arlov, Laura. GUI Design for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., 1997.

I know—it's hard to believe. The saying that you can't judge a book by its cover definitely applies here. This is a solid book, definitely not for dummies. This book would probably sell much better if it had a different title.

Arlov's book has a balanced presentation, covering user interface design in both practical and theoretical terms. The issues are covered from many points of view, including programming, graphic design, and user psychology. Arlov also includes quite a lot of information about the design process and task analysis. This book would be an especially good choice if you are interested in creating a design process. While all the chapters are solid, I found that Chapter 6, "How Users Get Around: Navigation Models"; Chapter 11, "Making Your GUI Easy to Understand"; Chapter 13, "The ABCs of Visual Design"; Chapter 14, "Color Is Communication"; and Chapter 15, "Icons and Graphics," are especially good. My only complaint is that while this book covers most of the user interface subjects that I feel are important, the coverage isn't especially deep and the presentation is a bit too breezy for my taste.

If you have read Cooper's About Face, Howlett's Visual Interface Design, Norman's The Design of Everyday Things, and Horton's The Icon Book, much of Arlov's book will be review. On the other hand, if you haven't read these other books and don't plan to, this book would be a good choice for a summary of much important user interface design information.