The Trouble With Computers

The Trouble With Computers : Usefulness, Usability, and Productivity by Thomas K. Landauer

Do you want to know how much money and time is wasted in the U.S. by workers using poorly designed applications? Have computers really improved our lives? This book takes a close look at how computers are failing us due to poor usability. The cost is staggering.

The book also offers a solution (one we have all heard before, but the revolution has yet to catch on): UserCenteredDesign. -- ToddCoram

"Drat these computers. They are so annoying and so complex. I could pinch them." --Marvin the Martian

Another "technosceptic" book: SiliconSnakeOil by CliffordStoll. I found SiliconSnakeOil to be far more original and enjoyable. Perhaps this was the case because it didn't try to sound like an academic economics textbook. Personally, I find Landauer's great conclusions about UserCenteredDesign to be a little puny and obvious. --

CategoryBook CategoryInteractionDesign