Prologue

This book is primarily about principles of human behavior: why people do the things they do, feel the things they feel, and make particular choices.

But there’s more to this book.

If trying to understand human behavior was the only goal, I’d have stopped by now and pointed you to dozens of other (much better) books on the subject.

I’ve spent the last decade trying to design the experiences people have online. I suspect that your own entry into user experience started with an established discipline such as library sciences, visual design, computer science, or education.

I formally entered the design field as a Web and graphics designer for a technology start-up, during the dot-com boom (and subsequent bust). But prior to that, I taught ...

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