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It’s the little things that turn a good digital product into a great one. With this full color practical book, you’ll learn how to design effective microinteractions: the small details that exist inside and around features. How can users change a setting? How do they turn on mute, or know they have a new email message?
Through vivid, real-world examples from today’s devices and applications, author Dan Saffer walks you through a microinteraction’s essential parts, then shows you how to use them in a mobile app, a web widget, and an appliance. You’ll quickly discover how microinteractions can change a product from one that’s tolerated into one that’s treasured.
* Explore a microinteraction’s structure: triggers, rules, feedback, modes, and loops
* Learn the types of triggers that initiate a microinteraction
* Create simple rules that define how your microinteraction can be used
* Help users understand the rules with feedback, using graphics, sounds, and vibrations
* Use modes to let users set preferences or modify a microinteraction
* Extend a microinteraction’s life with loops, such as “Get data every 30 seconds”
List of contents
Praise for Microinteractions;
Foreword;
Preface;
What Is This Book About?;
Who Should Read This Book;
How This Book Is Organized;
Why Write a Book About Microinteractions?;
Conventions Used in This Book;
Using Code Examples;
Safari® Books Online;
How to Contact Us;
Content Updates;
Acknowledgments;
Chapter 1: Designing Microinteractions;
1.1 Microinteractions Are Not Features ... But Still Matter;
1.2 The Secret History of Microinteractions;
1.3 The Structure of Microinteractions;
1.4 Microinteractions as a Philosophy;
1.5 Summary;
Chapter 2: Triggers;
2.1 Manual Triggers;
2.2 System Triggers;
2.3 Summary;
Chapter 3: Rules;
3.1 Designing Rules;
3.2 Limited Options and Smart Defaults;
3.3 Microcopy;
3.4 Algorithms;
3.5 Summary;
Chapter 4: Feedback;
4.1 Feedback Illuminates the Rules;
4.2 Feedback as a Personality-Delivery Mechanism;
4.3 Feedback Methods;
4.4 Feedback Rules;
4.5 Summary;
Chapter 5: Loops and Modes;
5.1 Modes;
5.2 Loops;
5.3 Summary;
Chapter 6: Putting It All Together;
6.1 Example 1: Mobile App;
6.2 Example 2: Online Shared Playlist;
6.3 Example 3: Dishwasher Control Panel;
6.4 Prototyping and Documenting Microinteractions;
6.5 Orchestrating Microinteractions;
6.6 Think Small;
Testing Microinteractions;
What to Look for During Testing;
Using Quantitative Data;
A Process for Testing Microinteractions;
Colophon;
About the author
Dan Saffer is a Director of Interaction Design at Smart Design. He is the author of Designing for Interaction: Creating Innovative Applications and Devices (New Riders), Designing Gestural Interfaces (O'Reilly), and Designing Devices. Since 1995, he has designed appliances, devices, software, websites, and services that are used by millions of people every day.
Summary
With this full color practical book, you'll learn how to design effective microinteractions: the small details that exist inside and around features. How can users change a setting, or know they have a new email message? You'll quickly discover how microinteractions can change a product from one that's tolerated into one that's treasured
