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Reviewer: Mona Singh

Thanks to the efforts of people like Don Norman, usability engineering is increasingly being recognized as an important discipline. Traditionally, usability is approached from two main perspectives. The first emphasizes artifacts?products that exist?and why they do or don't work. The second emphasizes techniques and methodologies?how we might create usable products by following a certain rigor. This book concentrates on another, generally ignored aspect of usability engineering: the design process. The authors state that the aim of the book is "to introduce a design perspective on the creation and shaping of digital artifacts." The book goes on to provide a discussion of several aspects of the design process. Chapter 2 talks about the design process. It discusses some fundamental aspects of the process from the initial idea to the final specification. The process is defined in terms of concepts, starting with the vision, moving on to the operative image, and finally, to the specification. In addition to the technicalities of the design process, there is a detailed discussion about the nonprocedural factors affecting it. One of these factors is the dilemma wherein the designer realizes that the situation involves choices, which all lead to unsatisfactory solutions. It is this dilemma, the authors contend, that instigates the creative leap by the designer. Chapter 3 concentrates on the designer herself. The description of a good designer is given as one who "can approach, appreciate, and assess a complex and unique design situation. Based on a creative idea, she can compose a design that fulfills and possibly surpasses the functional, structural, aesthetical, and ethical demands of the situation." While the above description sounds vague, this chapter provides details about what each of the characteristics means so that designers can refine their creative sensibilities. This chapter is a must-read for all designers, as it describes clearly what we may already be subconsciously aware of. Reading it will give one an opportunity to reflect on one's thinking. Chapter 4 drills down into the methods used by designers to develop an interaction design. This chapter is quite comprehensive, and covers methods and techniques from a wide variety of perspectives. This chapter discusses the role these methods play in the design process as it is realized in an organization. It talks about how methods serve as materials for learning, communication, planning, and coordination, and as bearers of history. This chapter makes the crucial point that the design process cannot be better than the individual designer. This point is worth making because an emphasis on techniques tends to hide it. Methods have a connotation of being scientific and repeatable. However, a design of digital artifacts depends almost entirely upon the designer. Clearly, good methods aid the designer, but the same methods used by different designers would produce wildly different results. The use qualities of products are discussed in chapter 5. Eight use qualities?playability, seductivity, parafunctionality, pliability, control or autonomy, transparency, social action space, and personal connectedness?are discussed. The discussion includes several well-chosen examples for each of the qualities. Chapter 6 provides a history of interaction design, and discusses ways in which interaction designers can contribute to the technological future. Chapter 7 concludes with highlights of the important points of the book, defending the title theme of the interaction designer being thoughtful. The book is definitely worth reading by anyone who calls herself an interaction designer. It brings out a number of interesting ideas about the role of the designer. It correctly claims that a thoughtful designer should be able to make judgment calls and display conceptual clarity. Many of these points will resonate with interaction designers and some may even appear obvious, but they are rarely as cogently expressed as in this book. If the book has a shortcoming, it is that some of the discussions are a bit vague, but I suspect this goes with the territory. Moreover, even the vague parts can help a reader ponder the important questions about design. All things considered, this book will help a reader become a better, more thoughtful designer or at least help her understand where she ought to focus her energies in order to become a better designer.