Overview
In a fantasy world, you design and build the core of your application, the parts that do all the heavy lifting. And the graphical user interface? Well, that's the domain of the hot-shot sitting one cube over, who went to school to learn how to give users sensible and effective control over the functionality you construct.
In the real world, there is no hot-shot sitting one cube over, and you have to build the GUI yourself.
Developer to Designer: GUI Design for the Busy Developer is a unique resource designed to help you and other experienced developers build GUIs for your programs that are simple to learn, easy to use, and painless to maintain, even though you're not user interface experts. Inside, the focus is on the essentials of Windows and web GUI design: simple ideas that require modest programming effort but provide enormous payoffs in terms of user success and satisfaction. You'll learn all about:
- Arranging text and controls in a sensible order
- Understanding and making the most of the behavior of windows
- Improving the effectiveness of dialog boxes
- Using advanced controls such as TreeViews, ListViews, and tabs
- Designing menus and toolbars
- Providing users with sensible customization options
- Understanding how the rules change when designing for the Web
- Handling page layout and navigation on the Web
- Anticipating changes in the next version of Windows
Throughout, author Mike Gunderloy is doggedly realistic. Like in his previous book, Coder to Developer: Tools and Strategies for Delivering Your Software, Mike describes how things actually work and prescribes ways for you to achieve meaningful results without staging a revolution. This is hard-won, practical knowledge from a veteran developer whose advice, examples, and overall vision will change the way you think and work.
Synopsis
Programmers undoubtedly agree that poor GUI design produces frustration and lost productivity, while user-oriented GUI design creates software products that are easy to learn and highly efficient to use. If you're a professional developer who wants to learn how to design robust and effective GUIs, this book is for you. It carefully addresses GUI design component by component, covering topics such as user input and navigation, user choices and customization, plus practical GUI design for the Web. With hundreds of examples and real-world anecdotes, Mike Gunderloy follows the same systematic and practical approach that made his recent book "Coder to Developer" immensely popular.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewFor most developers, user interfaces are a necessary evil. They’re not your forte, but if you don’t do them well, you’ll aggravate everyone -- especially yourself. In this book, Mike Gunderloy teaches you the essence of effective UI development, quickly, from your perspective as a programmer.
Gunderloy starts with clear principles: Respect the user; be simple, direct, forgiving, and consistent. All else builds on that: how to write UI text, manage windows, use controls, dialog boxes, menus, toolbars, and a whole lot more.
The heart of this book is about building Windows applications using standard interface elements (no reinventing the wheel here). In four final chapters, Gunderloy explains how web interfaces differ from “rich client” apps, and shows how to use today’s best web design and interaction patterns. Mercifully simple throughout, and very practical. Bill Camarda, from the March 2005 Read Only