1. Chapter 1 What Users Do

   1. A MEANS TO AN END

   2. THE BASICS OF USER RESEARCH

   3. USERS' MOTIVATION TO LEARN

   4. THE PATTERNS

2. Chapter 2 Organizing the Content:Information Architecture and Application Structure

   1. THE BASICS OF INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE: DIVIDING STUFF UP

   2. PHYSICAL STRUCTURE

   3. THE PATTERNS

3. Chapter 3 Getting Around:Navigation, Signposts, and Wayfinding

   1. STAYING FOUND

   2. THE COST OF NAVIGATION

   3. THE PATTERNS

4. Chapter 4 Organizing the Page:Layout of Page Elements

   1. THE BASICS OF PAGE LAYOUT

   2. THE PATTERNS

5. Chapter 5 Doing Things:Actions and Commands

   1. PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES

   2. THE PATTERNS

6. Chapter 6 Showing Complex Data:Trees, Tables, and Other Information Graphics

   1. THE BASICS OF INFORMATION GRAPHICS

   2. THE PATTERNS

7. Chapter 7 Getting Input from Users:Forms and Controls

   1. THE BASICS OF FORM DESIGN

   2. CONTROL CHOICE

   3. THE PATTERNS

8. Chapter 8 Builders and Editors

   1. THE BASICS OF EDITOR DESIGN

   2. THE PATTERNS

9. Chapter 9 Making It Look Good:Visual Style and Aesthetics

   1. SAME CONTENT, DIFFERENT STYLES

   2. THE BASICS OF VISUAL DESIGN

   3. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR DESKTOP APPLICATIONS

   4. THE PATTERNS

1. Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects.

The animal on the cover of this book is a Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata), one of the most beautiful of the duck species. Originating in China, these colorful birds can be found in southeast Russia, northern China, Japan, southern England, and Siberia. The males have diverse and colorful plumage, characterized by an iridescent crown, chestnut-colored cheeks, and a white eye stripe that extends from their red bills to the back of their heads. Females are less flamboyant in appearance and tend to be gray, white, brown, and greenish brown, with a white throat and foreneck.

These birds live in woodland areas near streams and lakes. Being omnivorous, they tend to have a seasonal diet, eating acorns and grains in autumn; insects, land snails, and aquatic plants in spring; and dew worms, grasshoppers, frogs, fish, and mollusks during the summer months.

The mating ritual of Mandarin ducks begins with an elaborate and complex courtship dance that involves shaking movements, mimed drinking gestures, and preening. Males fight each other to win a female, but it is ultimately the female who decides her mate. Mandarin ducklings instinctively follow their notoriously protective mothers, who will feign injury to distract predators such as otters, raccoon dogs, mink, polecats, eagle owls, and grass snakes.

Mandarin ducks are not an endangered species, but they are considered to be threatened. Loggers continuously encroach upon their habitats, and hunters and poachers prize the males for their plumage. Their meat is considered unpalatable by humans, and they are generally not hunted for food.

Genevieve d'Entremont was the production editor and proofreader for Designing Interfaces. Ann Schirmer was the copyeditor. Susan Honeywell was the page compositor. Phil Dangler and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. Kelly Talbot and Johnna VanHoose Dinse wrote the index.

Mike Kohnke designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is from Johnson's Natural History. Karen Montgomery produced the cover layout in Adobe InDesign CS, using Adobe's ITC Garmond font.

NOON (www.designatnoon.com) designed the interior layout. This book was converted by Joe Wizda to Adobe InDesign CS. The text fonts are Gotham Book and Adobe Garamond; the heading fonts are Univers and Gotham Bold. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano, Jessamyn Read, and Lesley Borash using Macromedia FreeHand MX and Adobe Photoshop CS. This colophon was written by Jansen Fernald.