The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction

The should be required reading for anyone in the Human Factors field, or anyone without a HF degree who wants to build something humans will use.

Most of us who have written GUI design books gained much of our knowledge of human-computer interaction from reading this early book. This book, though little known outside of academic Human-Computer Interaction circles, is one of the most heavily-cited books in the field. It is *the* classic source.

The ten or so others out there who have read this monster are probably experiencing a facial tic at my suggestion that it be required reading for all who design software. Its not a quick read, but its definately a page turner. I couldn't put it down.I'm serious.For me, a guy with a solid background in networking and systems architecture but without the classical human factors education required for intelligent product design this one document did a far better job of firmly rooting me in the basics than anything else.Mad props to Norman and Neilsen for pointing me in this direction in the first place. But with this book I finally felt "full."There were a solid list of findings I'd never heard of until I'd opened this book. Not only did this book introduce me to these sorts of things, it also illustrated them to me. I walked away understanding.Like all of my other faves, this book is opened often. I've bought many copies for friends (with friends like me...) and I reference it often.Its notable that the most leading edge work today related to this topic is being driven by the same guys who wrote this book so long ago. Its among my top five most suggested books for those I know who want to take their design to the next level.

Designing human-computer interfaces is still an art, learned best by creating many interfaces and carefully observing how real users interact with them. However, there are many tools from cognitive psychology that, if understood and applied, can yeild at least two benefits. First, by learning what is known about how humans operate, you can avoid many pitfalls in design. Second, you can make quantitative design decisions.This book, though nearly 20 years old, contains much essential material that is unknown to many practitioners in the field! If you are designing interfaces, on the Web, for PCs, or for information appliances, you should read and understand the basic material in this book, which can never go out of date as long as humans use keyboards and mice with their hands and scan the screen with their eyes.My own recent book, The Humane Interface, is -- in many aspects -- just following in the footsteps of this pathbreaking, pioneering, and important work.