Abstract
In Microinteractions, Dan Saffer describes those single-use tasks involved in a user’s interaction with almost any product, such as pressing an on/off button on your laptop, signing up for an e-mail list on a Web site, or turning your car’s ignition key. The book’s foreword by Don Norman provides a well-written call to action for designers to apply their expertise even to the smallest of details. A lack of attention to detail can lead to user error, frustration, and dissatisfaction and can possibly even lead to danger.
Saffer’s background and education enable him to provide a unique balance of theory, history, and application not often found in books geared toward a wide audience. He mentions such great industrial designers as Charles and Ray Eames and Dieter Rams, who paid attention to subtle, daily interactions. He also describes a brief history behind the first What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) word-processing program and the ways in which the invention of electricity changed user interaction design by abstracting action. At one time, the process between our actions and our actions’ consequences were visible through feedback (e.g., pulling a lever and seeing gears turn). Using a simple on/off switch to turn on a light bulb, for example, created a rapid link between actions and consequences but also made it more “opaque.” Such action abstraction is also seen in more modern interfaces such as a remote control or a gesture interface.
Saffer also uses accessible humor that does not distract from the content. For example, some readers may identify with a (humorous, but frustrating) mobile device scenario. You are sitting in bed reading news or a book on your smartphone or tablet and notice the tablet battery is dying. You reach down to plug in your device, only to find the cord is too short to reach the plug comfortably. The mouse click and the button press are other examples of daily microinteractions we may take for granted. Therefore, we may fail to focus on these small details when designing products for users in other domains such as health care or aviation.
Saffer provides numerous examples (including images) of different types of interactions (triggers, rules, feedback, loops, and modes) throughout the text before tying them together to analyze three specific applications: a mobile application, an online shared playlist, and a dishwasher control panel. These examples of simple user–product design interactions make the book accessible to someone new to the design process, or to a full-time interaction designer. It certainly should be of interest to many human factors/ergonomics practitioners involved in the design of everyday consumer products.
Despite its overall value, there are three main criticisms of the book. First, it is intended to be accessible and short, but I would have preferred a deeper analysis of more examples beyond the mobile app, playlist, and dishwasher. Second, the color images appearing in the e-book version lack readability in the black-and-white printed book. Finally, the writing is not always concise and consistent, making it difficult to extract some critical key points.
Footnotes
Alexandra Proaps is a human factors psychology PhD student at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Her main research interests are training in virtual environments and serious games, and human–computer interaction.