Usability and User Experience Resources
Usability Bookshelf F - K

A B C D E   F G H I J K  L M N O P Q  R S T U V W X Y Z

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Faulkner, C. The Essence of Human-Computer Interaction. Prentice Hall, London, UK, 1998. ISBN: 0137519753  Amazon
This book has a succinct overview of HCI with self-tests, exercises, and key references at the end of each section. Topics covered in this book include:the user's physical characteristics, the user's mental characteristics, the interface, evaluation and testing, designing systems that people can use, and social implications and the future of HCI. - CW 11/99

Fennick, J. H. Studies Show: A Popular Guide to Understanding Scientific Studies. Prometheus Books: Amherst, New York, 1997. ISBN 1-57392-136-X.

Fernandes, T. Global Interface Design: A Guide to Designing International User Interfaces. AP Professional: Boston, MA, 1995.
Fernandes’ book is an excellent reference for GUI designers. His book has sections on visual design, international formats, cultural issues, symbols and taboos, and cultural aesthetics. This book has the best examples of good and bad international GUI designs that I’ve seen.

Fisk, Arthur, D. and Rogers, Wendy, A. (Eds.) Handbook of Human Factors and the Older Adult.  Academic Press San Diego, CA, 1997.  ISBN 0-12-257680-2.

Fleming, J. Web Navigation: Designing the User Experience. O'Reilly: Sebastopol, CA, 1998. ISBN 1-56592-351-0.
Web Navigation is a good primer on how to design an efficient and enjoyable Web site. Fleming focuses on user goals (education, entertainment, shopping, forming a virtual community) and how those goals should influence the design of Web sites. The book has many examples and a companion CD. CW Amazon

Fosythe, C., Grose, E., and Ratner, J. (Eds.) Human Factors and Web Development. Lawrence Earlbaum: Mahwah, NJ, 1998.
This book is divided into five sections. The first section deals with the implications of psychological theory for Web design. The second section looks at specific Web user populations, including children, disabled users, and students. Section three examines Web style guidelines and differences between Web and GUI style guidelines. Section four looks at research topics and the last section examines collaboration and visualization on the Web.

Fowler, S. GUI Design Handbook. McGraw-Hill: New York, NY, 1998.
The GUI Design Handbook is a superb compendium of design information about the objects used to design GUIs. This handbook contains an alphabetical list of GUI components (check box, combo box, command line, menu bar,…). For each component there are four sections:

1. when to use the component,
2. what design guidelines apply to the component,
3. how to determine "micro-usability" of the component, and
4. what other components may be used for a particular function.

There are two good appendices on how to design a good GUI and how to conduct some basic usability tests. This book is useful for anyone who does detailed GUI design or evaluation.

Fowler, S. L. and Stanwick, V. R. The GUI Style Guide. AP Professional: Boston, MA, 1995.
Fowler and Stanwick write about how to use widgets properly in the design of GUIs, how to write messages and online help, and how to deal with international issues, color, and graphics during design. Each chapter has a detailed list of references and resources for additional information.

-G-

Galitz, W. O. User Interface Screen Design. QED: Boston, MA, 1993.
Galitz presents a detailed compendium of guidelines for the design of character and graphical user interfaces.

Galitz, W. O. It’s Time to Clean Your Windows: Designing GUIs That Work. Wiley-QED: New York, NY, 1994.

Galitz, W. O. The Essential Guide to User Interface Design. Wiley: New York, NY, 1997.
This book provides detailed design principles for creating aesthetic and usable GUIs. Galitz begins with an exposition on how user and task characteristics affect screen design, then goes into detail on general design principles, how to choose the right windowing architecture, menu design, choosing screen objects, color, feedback, and usability testing. Galitz provides many examples of good and bad design and explains the rationale behind his design principles clearly. This is a useful reference for anyone who is involved in the actual design or evaluation of screens.

Gardner-Bonneau, D., editor, Human Factors and Voice Interactive Systems Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1999. ISBN: 0792384679 Amazon

Garland, D. J., Wise, J. A., Hpokin, V. D, eds, Handbook of Aviation Human Factors. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. ISBN 0-80580-1680-1

Garrand, T. Writing for Multimedia: Entertainment, Education, Training,
Advertising, and the World Wide Web. Focal Press: Boston, MA, 1997. ISBN
0-240-80247-0.

Gause, D. C. and Weinberg, G. M. Exploring Requirements: Quality Before Design. Dorset House Publishing: New York, NY, 1989.
This book is a collection of ideas on how to gather requirements that meet the needs of customers and users. While not specific to usability requirements, many of the techniques would apply.

Gelertner, David. Machine Beauty: Elegance and the Heart of Technology, Basic Books, 1998

Gelertner, David. The Muse in the Machine: Computerizing the Poetry of Human Thought, The Free Press: New York, 1994
This book brings together computer science, cognitive psychology, philosophy and literary theory to look at how emotion could be introduced to the computer. Gelertner examines current writing on cognition and artificial intelligence to support his idea that it is the emotional element of thought that is the key to how thinking really works. Pursuing this idea, the author examines ancient literary text, religious traditions, children's writing and dreams in search of the source of intuition. He imagines a situation in which you "describe a complicated medical case to (a computer) and ask for the diagnosis. The computer might give you a serious, telling answer, but add, '…still, I'm not happy with that; it doesn't feel right.'" Gelertner's writing is dense -- The Muse in the Machine is 200 thought-provoking pages - but well worth the effort. (Whitney Quesenbery - July 1998)

Gershenfeld, N. When Things Start to Think. Henry Holt, New York, 1999. ISBN
0-8050-5874-5.

Gloor, P. Elements of Hypermedia Design: Techniques for Navigation & Visualization in Cyberspace. Birkhäuser: Boston, MA, 1997.
Gloor describes navigational concepts for getting around cyberspace, tools and methods for designing large information spaces, and notes on multimedia editing and publishing. The discussion of navigational concepts is useful, but the latter chapters on multimedia editing and hypermedia publishing are a little too techie to be useful for most readers.

Goldman, A., & MacDonald. S. The Group Depth Interview: Principles and Practice. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N. J. 1987

Greenbaum, T. The practical handbook and guide to focus group research Heath and Company, Lexington, MA, 1988

Greenbaum, T. L. The Handbook of Focus Group Research: Revised and Expanded Edition. Lexington Books: New York, NY, 1993.
Focus groups are useful for assessing user needs, attitudes, preferences, and suggestions. Greenbaum’s handbook provide a clear explanation of how to organize and moderate focus groups and interpret the data from participants. This book contains information on how to select good moderators and avoid common mistakes.

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Hackos, J. T. and Redish, J. C. User and Task Analysis for Interface Design. Wiley: New York, 1998. ISBN: 0-471-17831-4
Have you ever looked for a book that explains how to create the world's greatest user interface or write better documentation? Bookshelves overflow with books about designing user interfaces, usability testing, and writing documentation. It's difficult to choose the best book with so many choices on the market. Authors admit that task analysis is the first phase of any design process but bury the topic in the tomb of the book between pages 227 and 230. I wished for a book that thoroughly covers task analysis, and my prayers were answered.

JoAnn Hackos and Ginny Redish, renown for their work in technical communication and usability, have written an intriguing book on the study of users. They share their knowledge and experiences about users, how to work toward the interface design, and documentation. The book begins with an introduction to prepare you for understanding the context of users and task analysis. Usually, this is the beginning of the end for most books. Instead, the authors describe how to prepare for site visits, how to conduct site visits, and how to make the transition from analysis to design. Topics are thoroughly researched, candidly written, and appropriately illustrated.

I was attracted this book because of the high praises it received from members of TECHWR-L and a popular newsgroup dedicated to usability. Having read the book and put some of the instructions into practice, I assure you that the praises are justified. This is a one of a kind book that belongs in your library. (David Dick - Usability Interface October 1998)

Hackos, J. T. and Stevens, D. M. Standards for Online Communication: Publishing Information for The Internet/world Wide Web/Help Systems/ Corporate Intranets. Wiley: New York, NY,1997.
Hackos and Stevens have pulled together a set of critical guidelines for developing modern information systems. These guidelines are often overlooked as companies rush to get on the Web or establish corporate intranets. The book covers three main topics: analyzing information needs (something often neglected), designing online systems, and implementing designs. This book contains a CD-ROM with a Windows Help file that has the guidelines discussed in the paper version.

Harris, R. L. Information Graphics: A Comprehensive Illustrated Reference - Visual Tools for Analyzing, Managing, and Communicating. Management Graphics: Atlanta, GA, 1996.
This book is a veritable encyclopedia of information graphics - charts, maps, graphs, diagrams, and tables (over 4000 according to the book cover). Each entry describes the purpose of the information graphic and guidelines for drawing and using the graphic. If you want to know more about jittering, flow maps, stem and leaf charts, or patch graphs, buy the book.

Heckel, P. The Elements of Friendly Software Design. Sybex: Alameda, CA, 1991.
Heckel describes principles for designing "friendly" software and illustrates the principles with detailed case studies. This is an updated version of a book considered by some as a classic on user interface design.

Hall, Brandon, Web-Based Training Cookbook  John Wiley & Sons

Hayes, B. E. Measuring Customer Satisfaction: Survey Design, Use, and Statistical Analysis Methods. (Second Edition). American Society for Quality: Milwaukee, WI, 1998.
If you are developing a product satisfaction survey, this book is a useful reference. The book covers the development of dimensions of satisfaction, reliability and validity, questionnaire construction, sampling methods, and the analysis of satisfaction data. There are a number of examples of satisfaction questionnaires that are useful for developing your own questionnaire. (Chauncey Wilson, Usability Interface, January 1999)