Developing User Interfaces for Microsoft Windows - Softcover

McKay, Everett N

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0735605866 ISBN 13: 9780735605862

Publisher: Microsoft Press, 1999

Synopsis

Create better user interfaces by designing from the outside in.

How important is user interface design? A poorly executed interface can frustrate users - and cost your organization time and money - while an effective design can improve productivity by helping users get their work done. So what makes good interfaces good and bad interfaces bad? Which design choices can improve the user's experience with a program? Emphasizing practical results over theory, this concise, Windows-focused handbook distills industry best practices and the author's 25 years of software development expertise into straightforward and effective methods you can apply right now to create more usable user-driven software. Coverage includes:

Basic concepts of user interface (UI) design - knowing the standards; establishing consistency Practical development techniques - specific ways to improve the UI for applications built with the Win32 API or MFC Understanding the user experience - putting the goals of the user ahead of yours; focusing your creativity the "right" way Windows user interface components - mastering the fundamentals; making appropriate choices Testing and evaluation - ensuring software quality and usability

About this title

Review

For the seasoned developer, Developing User Interfaces for Microsoft Windows provides a common-sense guide for improving Windows user interfaces. After a survey of recent writings on user interface design, this title covers a wide range of topics in very short chapters with a minimum of software engineering jargon. (One standout area looks at reusing resources in Visual C++.) The text also presents a "model" Windows program--Visual C++ 5.0.

In its exploration of designing software for beginning and advanced users, the book advises against creating software tailored for specialized roles (a preference that arguably shows the book's interest in "shrink-wrapped" software, since business applications routinely require distinct modules for different types of users). Software is categorized into applications and utilities, with visual design guidelines for each. (This book doesn't avoid controversy here by arguing against both user-driven design and prototyping within the project life cycle.) Further chapters look at what UI features should be readily visible to users, and which ones (like unnecessary error messages) should be removed.

In one notable section, new ideas in UI design based on today's Web sites are presented. (HTML changes the rules for Windows desktop users too.) Readers also get a laundry list of features that work, such as direct manipulation, good configurability, previews, and tooltips. There's advice on help and documentation and an excellent section on creating more effective (and simpler) setup programs. In all, this book can be read profitably by any Windows developer using C++. It provides a solid checklist for thinking about user interface design on the Windows platform. --Richard Dragan

Review

Everett McKay's Developing User Interfaces for Microsoft Windows provides a great deal of practical, straightforward information written specifically for Windows developers. Unlike most books on GUI design, this book is written by a programmer, and as such, may seem more accessible to other developers. Highly recommended for the target audience. -- from Isys Information Architects, Interface Hall of Shame - Recommended Reading

This is a book about Interaction Design for GUI and how to use it to improve the User Experience with GUI Application software. The first impression is the quality and depth of the knowledge on Interaction, Navigation, Human Interface and Usability. The author is very well read and the book is filled with content taken from many recent authors working in the field as well as copious references to other material. It is also obvious that this is a book which is operating at a higher level than many Windows GUI books which have gone before it. In many ways, it is also better than many recent books on Swing, in this regard.

Everett McKay has written a good book which is a considerable improvement on other Windows specific books which have gone before. It sits at a much higher level of UI Design and seeks to develop methods and techniques in improving User Experience, general Navigation and Interaction Design. Despite its Microsoft patronage, this is a book which has value to add to the design of any GUI applications and those seeking a general book on improved Interaction Design for Swing or Mac or Linux / X-Windows applications could do a lot worse than read this book.

The cover is misleading and the title is a misnomer. The book isn't about Development, its about Design. It isn't about User Interface so much, but, User Interaction instead! Finally, its not much about Microsoft Windows either. You might have expected Microsoft to release a clutch of books heralding the next generation Windows 2000. Well this certainly isn't one of them.

It sits in the gap between methodology books such as Deborah Mayhew's, Usability Engineering Lifecycle and style guide books such as Galitz, The Essential Guide to User Interface Design.

McKay is evidently an experienced, well read and thoughtful author. This thick book must have taken a great deal of effort. It represents best of breed techniques for much of what is known and understood. It hints at some newer areas of research such as patterns for prototypes. It will teach you what should be visible, how to make the rest invisible and how to prevent add the unnecessary evil. Windows needed this book 5 years ago! Perhaps even earlier in order that the developers had time to read it. I wonder if its been required reading at Microsoft this past few months?

Recommendation: A really good teaching book for GUI Interaction Design. Fills a gap between grandiose methodology books and lower level style guides. Such a pity that it comes so late. Microsoft finally shutting the stable door, after the application horse has bolted! -- from UIDesign.net's Book Recommendations; Copyright 1999, David J. Anderson, All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Microsoft Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0735605866
• ISBN 13: 9780735605862
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 612