The Elements of User Experience
By: DON SEAN ARVIE BUENCAMINO
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Category: Information and Communications Technology
Description:
The main difference between this edition and the first is that this book is no longer just about Web sites. Yes, most of the examples are still Web-related, but overall, the themes, concepts, and principles apply to products and services of all kinds. There are two reasons for this, both having to do with what’s happened over the last ten years. One is what’s happened to Elements, and one is what’s happened to user experience itself. Over the years, I’ve heard from (or heard about) people who have applied the Elements model to products that have nothing to do with the Web. In some cases they were Web designers asked to take on something new, like a mobile application. In other cases, they were designers of other kinds of products who somehow came across Elements and saw a connection to their own work.
Meanwhile, the field of user experience has broadened its horizons. Practitioners now regularly talk about the impact and value of user experience design in areas far beyond the limited context of the Web or even screen-based interactive applications that dominated the conversation back when this book was first written. This new edition of the book takes a similarly broad view. The Web is still central to the book, if only to acknowledge the model’s roots in that medium. But this book doesn’t require an insider’s knowledge of how Web development happens—so even if you don’t create Web sites, you should be able to see how to apply these ideas in your own work. Despite all this, those of you who have read the first edition should rest assured: This is not a radical reinvention. It’s a honing and refinement of the familiar Elements model you know (and hopefully love), with the same core ideas and philosophy intact. The little things change, but the big ones really don’t I remain gratified and humbled by where people have taken Elements. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Jesse James Garrett
November 2010
About the Author
Jesse James Garrett is one of the founders of Adaptive Path, a user experience consultancy based in San Francisco. Since 1995, Jesse has worked on Web projects for companies such as AT&T, Intel, Boeing, Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, and National Public Radio. His contributions to the field of user experience include the Visual Vocabulary, an open notation system for information architecture documentation that is now used by organizations around the world. His personal site at www.jjg.net is one of the Web’s most popular destinations for information architecture resources, and he is a frequent speaker on information architecture and user experience issues.