Thought & Theory

Only two books left in my self-taught design semester.

Envisioning Information by Edward Tufte
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition by Edward Tufte

So far, my favorite book has been Dan Saffer’s Designing for Interaction: Creating Smart Applications and Clever Devices. Its a great read and really inspiring to younger interactive designers like myself.

While it was hard to squeeze in that hour or so of reading every other day, it has more than payed itself off. I can honestly say I’ve learned a lot of things these past few months that have helped solidify my design processes. I have a better understanding of Interaction Design as a whole and more importantly know how I can become a better designer.

Anybody reccomend any books for a Spring Semester?

So i’ve been feverishly reading books for my self-taught semester of design (about 3/4 of the way done), and it was interesting to note that a lot of these books advocated methods that were slightly different of what 37 signals practices. Slightly confused, I decided to fire off an email and ask them what they thought about it.

So here was my question:

“Many design thinkers really advocate deep, rich design research. Its a lot of documentation, interviewing, meetings and even more documentation just to get to the planning/prototyping stage. After reading some of the literature 37signals has put out, it seems like you guys stray away from this workflow in general. What’s your general workflow like? Is it different from traditional design workflow?”

This was a great response:

…”It’s like a conversation. You don’t sit down at the cafe, listen to your friend for two hours straight, and then talk for two hours straight. You take turns, constantly going back and forth, and the discussion finds its way.”

See the Post

So its been about a good 2 and a half years since I’ve been out of school and I’ve realized a couple things. Sometimes I get so busy cranking out work that I start to close myself off from learning new things. Even with my hectic schedule, I need to make time for my own personal growth as a designer.

So I’ve taken it upon myself to put together a semester of material that I will be studying from the months of August to December. So far, most of it is related to User Experiences and UI but I’m looking to add more material on related topics like ‘copywriting’ and ’startup advice’.

I feel like if I lay out some material and get serious about finishing them in a set time period, I can get back on track and get myself learning at an accelerated pace like in college (Hopefully with less Ramen and Red Bull involved).

So Here’s the List So Far

Designing for Interaction: Creating Smart Applications and Clever Devices by Dan Saffer
Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design by Bill Buxton
About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design by Allan Cooper
Envisioning Information by Edward Tufte
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition by Edward Tufte

Feel free to suggest any books that I should consider adding to my personal curriculum and thanks to Khoi Vinh for his book suggestions.

Great video about how too many choices paralyzes a user and makes them ultimately less satisfied even when they choose the “right” thing. Simplicity is king kiddies… and we’re working hard to follow that.

Link from http://thinkvitamin.com/ from Paul Boag.