Display and interface design

Advances in hardware and software have made it possible to build interfaces that are both capable and simple to operate, yet many people still wrestle with clumsy workarounds and needless obstacles. The authors, who together have spent more than six decades studying, building, and teaching about how people perform with technology, argue that substantial improvement is still possible.

The book presents a practical approach grounded in theory, drawn from cognitive systems engineering and ecological interface design. Rather than treating an interface as a meeting point between a person and a machine, it models three elements together: the work domain, the human operator, and the interface. Readers learn how to shape a display around the demands of a specific job, how to draw on people's natural perception and action abilities, and how to choose interface technologies with care. The authors set out broad principles and concrete strategies, supported by worked examples and detailed design tutorials. The discussion covers the full range of interfaces that workplaces may need. An accompanying website demonstrates how displays behave dynamically.

The authors explain why good interfaces are scarce: they are hard to design and hard to build well. They note that many existing display design books emphasize visual style without rigorous science, or describe what exists without saying what should be done. This book offers a single framework meant to apply across many different fields, and it is aimed at anyone studying interface principles as well as those who design and implement them.