Designing Interfaces, 3rd Edition

Preface to the Third Edition

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

We’re approaching the 15-year anniversary of the original publication of this book, Designing Interfaces. And it’s been 10 years since the second edition. It’s worth looking at what’s changed and what hasn’t, and what it means for interface design and people who interact with software.

Since then, the big change is that technology and software accelerated their growth and spread in an ever-increasing way. This trend is not stopping. Today, we interact with software in almost every aspect of our daily lives; for work, leisure, communicating, shopping, learning, and more. The list of devices and things with software smarts and internet connectivity is exploding: cars, smart speakers, televisions, toys, watches, homes. Screen sizes and types vary, and an explosion of interfaces that are primarily gesture or voice are found in consumer products. Globally, more than half the population of the planet now accesses the internet. Finally, software is becoming more powerful, more analytical, more predictive, more able to offer smarter insights and operate more independently. In a phrase, it’s becoming more like us.

Interface design, like everything else, changes to keep up with the changing times. A third edition that tries to be the comprehensive design guide for all the possible interfaces in this increasing complexity would be enormous and never finished.

Why We Wrote This Book

When the opportunity ...