Designing Interactions by Bill Moggridge

Published on 14^th December 2008 in Book reviews, Usability.

As you’re reading this, you’re probably overlooking the reason why you’re using a mouse. Who invented it? What about the toolbar and drop-down menus? Copy and paste? The desktop and icons? All of these things make up the computer systems we use today, but how did we get to this point and why do we interact with these machines in the way we do? These are all questions which Designing Interactions sets out to answer.

Bill Moggridge’s book charts the history of interaction design through a series of interviews, some of which can be seen on the accompanying DVD. Designing Interactions begins with the story of the mouse and the desktop, then goes on to cover handheld devices, the Internet and a numerous other systems and services.

It’s a hefty tome, clocking in at 766 pages, but it’s one that you can dip into at any point. I must admit I watched the DVD first and then went through the book in more detail later. Whichever way you read – or watch – it, Designing Interactions provides an extremely interesting insight into the creation of things that we now take for granted. It covers a wide range of technologies, but I found the story of how the first GUIs came into being the most compelling.

Designing Interactions can’t really be classed essential reading, but if you are interesting in design history, then it won’t disappoint. The inclusion of a DVD, which I wasn’t even aware of when I bought it, is a great bonus too.