Conceptual Design for Interactive Systems

With an academic background in cognitive experimental psychology, Avi Parush’s areas of expertise are human factors engineering, human computer interaction, and usability engineering. His professional and academic career of over 30 years in human factors was devoted to influencing the design of workplaces and tools people use in order to make their lives easier, safer and more beneficial. Avi Parush is internationally known as an expert in usability studies and is the founding editor in chief of the Journal of Usability Studies. Healthcare is Avi Parush’s current main research focus, building on his longstanding passion for understanding and improving the relationship between people and technology.

"I’m pleased to see Avi Parush publishing this book. He provides us with a well-thought out, well-illustrated analytical framework and methodology to bring to bear on a wide range of interface/interaction design and development problems. I personally have long believed and tried to practice the idea that interaction and interface architecture/design can and should be done separately from actual implementation during software development. An intertwined and intermingled focus on implementation, with implementation driving design thinking, often leads to premature choices that close off later opportunities created by having learned more about the user’s tasks and goals. The book provides us with a way of thinking about interface/interaction design and development that helps sort through the often confusing demands created by the need to do both, often iteratively. I think that both the experienced professional and the aspiring interaction designer will be able to find value in the framework and methodology described by Avi Parush. His work is grounded in both knowledge of cognition and in experience with actual design and development." --Thomas Hewett, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Psychology and of Computer Science, Department of Psychology, Drexel University

• PrefaceWhat is this book about?Is this book for you?How is the book organized?Part 1: The conceptual model - FundamentalsChapter 1: A multiple and cross–channel example - Setting an appointmentChapter 2: Places, routes, and abstractionChapter 3: A layered framework for the conceptual modelChapter 4: The Function layerChapter 5: The Configuration layerChapter 6: The Navigation & Policy layerChapter 7: The detailed layersChapter 8: Summary of the components of the conceptual model according to the layered frameworkChapter 9: Conceptual models matter! - Implications to human performance, usability, and experienceChapter 10: A typology of conceptual modelsSummary of Part 1Part 2: Conceptual design - A methodologyChapter 11: Conceptual design in context - Think strategicallyChapter 12: Conceptual design– An overview of the methodologyChapter 13: First, user research. Just do itChapter 14: Functional Chunks: Construct the essential foundationChapter 15: Configuration: Draw your first rough sketch of the conceptual modelChapter 16: Navigation Map: Moving from one place to anotherChapter 17: Navigation Policy: Define the “Rules of the Road”Chapter 18: Form - Transition to detailed designChapter 19: Summary – Conceptual Design Methodology in a glanceEpilogue: Beyond the conceptual model and onto detailed design