Calm Technology: Principles And Patterns For Non-Intrusive Design

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How can you design technology that becomes a part of a user’s life and not a distraction from it? This practical book explores the concept of calm technology, a method for smoothly capturing a user’s attention only when necessary, while calmly remaining in the background most of the time. You’ll learn how to design products that work well, launch well, are easy to support, easy to use, and remain unobtrusive.Author Amber Case presents ideas first introduced by researchers at Xerox PARC in 1995, and explains how they apply to our current technology landscape, especially the Internet of Things. This book is ideal for UX and product designers, managers, creative directors, and developers. You’ll learn:The importance and challenge of designing technology that respects our attentionPrinciples of calm design—peripheral attention, context, and ambient awarenessCalm communication patterns—improving attention through a variety of sensesExercises for improving existing products through calm technologyPrinciples and patterns of calm technology for companies and teamsThe origins of calm technology at Xerox PARC

Paperback: 150 pages

Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (January 3, 2016)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1491925884

ISBN-13: 978-1491925881

Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.3 x 9 inches

Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #286,191 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #134 in Books > Arts & Photography > Decorative Arts & Design > Industrial & Product Design #135 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Human-Computer Interaction #140 in Books > Computers & Technology > Graphics & Design > User Experience & Usability

Amber Case articulates very well the future of technology in a way that's easy for a new user or a seasoned programming veteran to understand. She outlines cases in which Calm Technology is used and should continue expanding in the future, making anyone wonder why another concept of technology should be persued. It's a great reference book for anyone trying to bring something new into how a user interacts with technology, but more importantly, how technology interacts with a user, stressing that the user data is the most important and most private. Would absolutely read again, and I see myself utilizing the concepts presented in the book in future design processes.

I like the book overall. The concept is good. However, the author does not seem to understand what's going on with the technologies on some of the examples used in the book. For example, the Nest example on page 40 is entirely wrong about the Nest product. The alarm cannot be silenced if smoke exceeds a 4% obscuration level. The author does not seems to know this and instead is blaming Nest for "Bad design", "missed core interactive feature". While you can silence your alarm during its early stage, for the safety of users, you simply cannot silence it after certain level, it's simply not a matter of design at all. Of course bad sensor and false alarm happens, there is nothing you can do about it.

One of the clearest books covering this subject.Anyone designing anything from computer applications to buildings to refrigerators should read this book.

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