The Elements of User Experience

Synopsis

This book was born out of a particularly insightful diagram that Jesse came up with at the end of March 2000, whilst searching for a way to describe clearly the focus of his work as an early practioneer of web information architecture to those he worked with and for.

The diagram is the corner stone for Jesse’s description of the differences and similarities between traditional software development where Functionality is king, and internet development where Content is king but functionality has become increasingly important.

Jesse does a very solid job of mapping the User Experience phases of work, to the creation of web sites.

• Strategy – Requirements Gathering
• Scope – Requirments Analysis
• Structure – Solution Architecture
• Skeleton – Solution Design
• Surface – Solution Implementation

He provides clarity using high level definitions for each aspect of work providing a solid foundation for thinking about the team roles within these phases by stepping through each one discussing the focus and typical work covered. There some simple observations and diagrams which work well with the simplicity of reading this book.

Summary

Between 2000 and 2002 it became vogue for web companies of all sizes to promote their “process” as a way of differentiating and communicating their forward thinking professionalism – this book isn’t selling you a process, it discusses what we are all doing – building web sites. Would I say it was worth a read, yes definitely even now (2006). The book is intended as clear quick read, as Jesse states at the start of the book.

Who should read it? Well anyone in User Experience or software development will find it useful in understanding from a high level perspective what type of work is involved in creating a web sites with the role of user experience. This book was not intended as a comprehensive nor exhaustive text on the topic of User Experience Design.

Available from
Amazon.co.uk

Creative-Resonance is a Registered Amazon Affiliate and is given a small commission when you buy this book from the Amazon page linked to from this page. This only works when you buy from the linked page, as Amazon do not pass the referral detail between pages when you browse.