I got to IxD via HCI and my early influences were Ben Shneiderman and Don Norman. The books were academically- rather than practioner-oriented (although Norman's POET/DOET does a fairly decent job of crossing over), but getting some theory under your belt ain't bad idea. As one of my teachers used to say, 'There's nothing more practical than a good theory.'
Bill Moggridge's Designing Interactions is a good book to have, although it does subtly - maybe not too subtly - push The IDEO Way. But it's a great way to learn about some of the great folks who've paved the way. The diversity of designs and design contexts and the numerous illustrations make it a great complement to a more theoretical/principles oriented text, such as from Shneiderman or Norman. One nice book to have as a reference, once you've gained momentum is:Universal Principles of Design by Lidwell, Holden and Butler. Dan Saffer has listed George Lakoff and Mark Johnson's Metaphors We Live By -- lovely little book I read two decades ago which opened my mind wide. Which brings up the need to read widely, any and every dang thing that seems interesting, but esp. in cog psych, linguistics/semiotics, art/design, social psych, cultural anthropology, recreational mathematics, artificial intelligence/computer science (read Godel Escher Bach by Doug Hofstadter; will take a while, but mind blowing). Dan has also listed Steven Johnson's Emergence, which is about Complexity Theory. There are lots of books in this area which will really tickle your mind. Here is a list: http://murliman.googlepages.com/complexity If you're scared of big books, then Dan's book won't scare you at all. I didn't think one could compress so much into 200-odd pages including illustrations, but Dan has done it. Now, of course, I need to get to Robert's book. Regarding Scott (Corban's) plaint regarding 'heavy stuff' -- I too suffer from EyesGlazingOverItis. Sometimes, it is enough to just skim through books, look at illustrations, read from the middle out, read just the stuff that looks interesting, gain a general feel for the material. Do this with enough books (like, while standing in a bookstore, in case there are still brick and mortar bookshelves around) and then some common patterns will begin to emerge. That will excite you enough to want to read more of the book, perhaps from beginning to end, in the right order. If you hit upon the right book, it will give you enough of a skeletal framework from which to construct your own mental model of the field. Then as you read and learn other stuff, you will hang it off of this skeleton, like on a MindMap. Each of us has to build our own perspective on or model of the field, even while there are some common, generally accepted principles (but as you can see from all the raging debates in this forum, there can be much disagreement!). And then there is no substitute for face time with experienced folks and enthusiasts, at local SIGs, and especially during coffee breaks at conferences. The best people in the field are often fine human beings and love to share. Another biblio: http://murli.design.googlepages.com/biblio Regards, and happy reading. - murli ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
