Recommend book on Human Computer Interaction

Question

Hi, I'm looking for a good book to read on HCI over the xmas holidays, is there a particular book you would recommend on this topic?

Thanks,

Answer 1

Yes, look at this site http://www.id-book.com/

The book is called "Interaction Design - beyond human computer interaction" (2nd Edition) Yvonne Rogers, Helen Sharp and Jennifer Preece.

You have free access to handouts and slides on the website.

Regards

Answer 2

Donald Normans "Design of Everyday Things" is excellent.

Answer 3

For a good introduction, try Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think. It's focused on web usability but contains a lot of good advice that applies to any platform. And it's a fairly light, enjoyable read, so ideal for holiday relaxation.

In the same vein, there's also Joel Spolsky's User Interface Design for Programmers which focuses more on desktop applications but has the same easy-going, no-nonsense, real-world approach as Krug.

Answer 4

Alan Cooper's About Face is good and is now in its 3rd edition. Lots of the advice in Joel's User Interface Design For Programmers still applies (and some of the chapters are available online too.)

Answer 5

More on the academic side, see Jenny Preece et al.'s "Human-Computer Interaction". It's a classic.

Answer 6

I can recommend Designing Interactive Systems: People, Activities, Contexts, Technologies, it's easy to read and contains lots of practical examples and useful info.