Effective UI: Building Great User Experience-Driven Sites & Software

Description

People expect effortless, engaging interaction with desktop and web applications, but producing software that generates enjoyable user experiences is much harder than many companies anticipate. With Effective UI, you'll learn proven user-experience strategies that will satisfy your clients and customers, drive business value, and increase brand strength.

This book shows you how to capture the collaborative and cooperative spirit among designers, engineers, and management required for building engaging software. You'll also learn valuable methods for maintaining focus throughout the process -- whether you're a product manager who needs a clear roadmap, a developer or designer looking for guidance and advocacy, or a businessperson who wants to understand and manage user-experience software initiatives.

Learn how to build software that will:

* Generate engaging and interactive experiences between consumers and businesses, or between businesspeople and their information systems
* Account for how people work with, think about, and consume information
* Establish a richer means of collaboration and communication
* Reduce frustration by streamlining complex tasks and creating processes that are more intuitive
* Distinguish products, services, and brands to create a competitive advantage
* Create scalable systems that adapt to changing user needs and behaviors

CONTENTS:

Preface; Thanks and Acknowledgments; Safari Books Online(R); Chapter 1: Building an Effective UI; 1.1 Understanding UX; 1.2 Herff Jones eDesign: Intuitiveness Versus Efficiency; 1.3 Herff Jones eDesign: Integrated Experience; 1.4 Redefining Two Fundamental Terms; Chapter 2: Building the Case for Better UX; 2.1 Why Now Is the Moment for UX; 2.2 Winning Support for Better UX; Chapter 3: Effective Planning and Requirements; 3.1 Uncertainty and the Unknown; 3.2 Lessons from Uncertainty and the Unknown; 3.3 Effective Requirements; 3.4 Effective Process; Chapter 4: Bringing Together a Team; 4.1 The Project Leader; 4.2 The Stakeholders; 4.3 The Characteristics of a Successful Project Team; Chapter 5: Getting the Business Perspective; 5.1 Defining Success; 5.2 Describing the Product's Users; 5.3 Creating Business Requirements; 5.4 Maintaining Stakeholder Buy-in; Chapter 6: Getting to Know the User; 6.1 Valuing User Research; 6.2 Key Concepts in User Research; 6.3 Research Through Speaking with Users; 6.4 Research Through Direct Observation; 6.5 Analyzing the Research Observations; 6.6 Guerilla User Research; 6.7 Stakeholder Buy-in Through User Research; Chapter 7: Initial Product Architecture; 7.1 The Initial Product Architecture Team; 7.2 UX Architecture; 7.3 Technical Architecture; 7.4 Software Architecture in Big Design Up Front (BDUF); 7.5 Project Infrastructure Needs; Chapter 8: The Iterative Development Process; 8.1 Regarding "Process"; 8.2 Iterations and Feedback; 8.3 Iteration in Sub-Ideal Project Approaches; Chapter 9: Release and Post-Release; 9.1 Managing Expectations; 9.2 The Alpha and Beta Releases; 9.3 Last-Minute Housekeeping; 9.4 User Documentation; 9.5 And Champagne Corks Fly...; 9.6 Adoption; 9.7 Post-Release; Afterword; EffectiveUI Senior Class of '09; Colophon;