Designing Interfaces: Patterns for Effective Interaction Design Reviews

• A different kind of user interface design book

  
  By A2E3F04ZK7FG66 on 2005-12-04
  This book is different from most books on designing user interfaces since the ideas are presented as design patterns, much as you would see in Gamma's classic book on the subject had it been adapted to human-computer interfacing rather than programming. Each of the patterns and techniques presented in this book are intended to help the reader solve common design problems. Patterns and techniques are presented for web sites, desktop applications, and everything in between such as web forms, Flash, and applets. The user interface design patterns presented in this book are intended to be read by people who have some knowledge of UI design concepts and terminology: dialogs, selection, combo boxes, navigation bars, whitespace, branding, and so on. The book does not identify many widely-accepted techniques such as copy-and-paste, as it is assumed that you probably already know what this is. However, some common techniques are described here to encourage their use in other contexts -- for instance, desktop apps could make better use of Toplevel Navigation -- or to discuss them alongside alternative solutions. If you're running short on ideas, or hung up on a difficult design problem, skimming this book and its design patterns may help you produce a good solution.
  Each pattern is presented with an image showing a possible implementation, a "Use When" section, a "Why" section, and a "How" section with very high level tool-independent implementation instructions. The patterns are organized into groups by function - organizing content, getting around, organizing the page, getting input from users, showing complex data, commands and action, direct manipulation, and stylistic elements.
  I would highly recommend this logically structured book to anyone from programmer to graphic artist who might be involved in user interface design.
  
  

• Widgets and aesthetics

  
  By A20DMHOHEG8Y7Q on 2005-12-21
  This book is lavishly illustrated and fun to read. The sections are color-coded and there are few pages without at least one full-color illustration. So often, Web app team workers and managers get grey on grey and so often our output reflects that.
  
  There are flow patterns, layout patterns, widget patterns galore. All good, but the chapter that gave me the most food for thought was the last, "Making It Look Good: Visual Style and Aesthetics." A Stanford study indicates that the most important factor in Web site credibility is the appearance of the site. This is probably also true of Web applications, but not in the same way. I have often had to go toe to toe with developers and executive managers who want to jazz things up with a far heavier, "more impressive" graphical treatment. VPs and marketers want something snazzy to show clients -- but they forget that someone who actually has to *use* an application in their workday may not find "snazzy" to be attractive at all.
  
  Reading this chapter gave me more confidence that the choices in typography, color balance, contrast, and whitespace our teams arrived at through much effort have been correct and beneficial ones.
  
  

• I learned virtually nothing.

  
  By A1KFCM6ZQ5JP8E on 2006-08-03
  There is little (if any) content in here that an intermediate or senior level designer could use. Most of what is in this book is obvious (and if it's not maybe this shouldn't be your line of work). It was a painful read because most of the time I felt like I was wasting my time. I was (I kid you not) already more than halfway through the book when she started talking about using alternating colors to visually distinguish rows of data. Ya, duh? And she is verbose about the most obvious of things, to the point where it's almost hard to read because you think maybe you're missing something, and so you get someone else to read it too and they go, "Huh, didn't she just say the exact same thing in the last sentence but just with different words?" Yes, she did. It's irksome. It's irritating. It's annoying. (See what I mean?) This is a hot dog of a book - all filler.
  
  This might be a good book for a novice, but I wouldn't recommend it for someone who is well into the industry, as you will probably just wish you could get that time back.
  
  The only good thing about it is that you will learn the vocabulary of the industry. It's like a fluffed up data dictionary, that's all. I don't recommend it unless you have time to waste. It's nicely designed though.
  
  

• WEB DESIGN IS DIFFERENT FROM BOOK DESIGN

  
  By A2RHE6XA33NA7L on 2006-06-19
  Jenifer Tidwell's book is excellent, both for its organization and information content. It is indeed unfortunate that the book's designers had so little experience designing books.
  From a design viewpoint, their visual structure is well done. However, the choice of an expanded sans serif type, coupled with a 6.5 inch line length makes for poor, difficult readability. The readability standard for line length is 1 1/2 to 2 lengths of the chosen alphabet. In addition, although the book's paper has a matt gloss finish, it is still reflective under a reading lamp, adding to the lack of ease in reading.
  
  I find it interesting that a book that dwells so well on aspects of the various patterns that can be used for good web sites ranks so poorly in the text that describes it. As far back as the 1950's, people like Miles Tinker researched and wrote extensively on what today might be called "patterns for print readability." To find it so ignored in this otherwise excellent text makes me rank it far lower on the scale than it otherwise deserves.
  
  Other books that O'Reilly has published such as Information Architecture for the World Wide Web use an easy to read serif type, and a paper stock that is non-relective under a desk lamp. For a less flashy design, but one that is much more reader-friendly regarding ease of reading the content, look at The Design of Sites, published by Addison Wesley.
  
  Print is still around, and although it is not as compelling an area for new book design as the Web is, good readable design for print still matters.
  
  

• Not just for designers...

  
  By A1IANEBSMVGHS9 on 2006-11-09
  I arrived at "Designing Interfaces" with a hunger for detail and references as we head deep into revising the interface of a whole section of a web site I am in charge of. And the timing couldn't have been better. Jenifer (with one "n") Tidwell is right on the money when it comes to offering a broad range of options to address just about any interface design need you may run into. Her experience working with Matlab's Mathworks didn't limit her to offering advice for client software interface design.
  
  Tidwell goes well beyond it, delving into web design and mobile interface waters, which she swims with equal comfort and efficiency. As a matter of fact, at times the presentation of samples from alternate media/platforms (client software or mobile) pulls those of us who are more comfortable within web application development out of our comfort zone, presenting us with innovative ways to solve old problems.
  
  All in all, this becomes a must reference for anyone needing to learn or polish skills in software interface design for any medium. And this is not limited to designers: I am an Application Development Manager and I learned a lot from "Designing Interfaces" too.
  
  
• Jump-started my problem-solving process
  By A2M6S43JXC8SP9 on 2007-03-20
  Having already read through the first few chapters, today I sat down with an explicit need: to solve a problem that involved searching and filtering a large set of data. This book came through for me. Yes, some of it appears obvious when you first read through, but once you have a specific problem to address, its true utility emerges. I opened to the Showing Complex Data chapter, and as I read through, ideas began to form. Some came directly from the book, others were inspired by or related to what I was reading. I took notes, and those notes helped me develop the questions about the data and the users I need to answer in order to continue.
  
  When you're faced with a design challenge, and you're a bit stymied as to how to proceed, this book will help move the solution forward. Even if you think you have a solution, this book can help you make it fresh and creative.
  
  
• A Novice Reviews
  By ADZR106X9DLXX on 2006-11-10
  This book takes an admirable stab at removing the arbitrariness in building an interface from scratch. Tidwell lucidly examines common gestalt design principles and their ramifications in actual designs of web pages, mobile devices and other graphical interface technologies. Proximity, for example, can mean the difference between intuitively linking items in an interface or intuitively creating a distinction between them. Other reviewers bash her for pointing out the obvious, but it is the cataloging, enumerating, condensing of the obvious (sprinkled with the insights of a professional) which makes this book helpful to anyone daunted by the task of making an app that is the Gmail to the quotidian, more-awful-to-use-by-the-second Hotmail.
  
  
• Thorough content, infuriating type
  By A1ALXEAJM0VG29 on 2006-01-16
  I'm in disbelief over a major problem with the font choice in the print of this book. A book on "design interfaces" with the single most crucial "interface" element (in this medium being text) as a unnaturally wide sans-serif font with ultra-poor readability? AND the text is layed out in a single wide column. Simply put, it's difficult to read, were it not for the beadth and depth of interesting content...
  
  CONTENT-wise, the book is great. No doubt, it's full of great examples. And it's impressive documentation of conventions that have been used in computer and web interfaces--with grouping/classifying, naming and discussion of the concept. The coverage may encourage a back-step in reassessment of seemingly obvious common conventions, presented here as "patterns".
  
  I want to give it 5 stars, but it's so unnecessarily frustrating to read that part of me thinks it deserves only 1. Coming from O'Rielly that's been doing text so well, it's a puzzle. It's worth the buy IF it gets refomatted and republished.
  
  
• collection of interface design patterns
  By AE7MOARCMS05H on 2006-08-30
  this is not a "how to design interfaces" book - more of a "here is what has worked in the past when people designed interfaces". it's great for inspiration, as its examples range across web apps, desktop apps, mobile devices and others.
  
  
• Badly printed
  By A28HA23H07KWW7 on 2006-05-22
  Don't know where the book has been printed, but I think that a book about design, with a lot of images used as reference, should avoid such errors like wrong offsets and dotted prints, making images sometimes unreadeable.
  
  
• If you like baby food - this is for you
  By AVXTGIEMEUXXM on 2006-10-28
  Good treatice on stating the obvious but light on meaningful detail and depth into particulars.
  
  
• Please read this if you program user interfaces
  By A1T6PXM2M3N84A on 2006-05-31
  It is hard to write a review on a book that has a title that explains the subject well and the book does an excellent job with the subject without straying off course. That is the problem with this one. The book is entirely on the subject of software interfaces for the user. As such it addresses some of the most frustrating problems a user faces - poor design, unclear layout, lack of intuitiveness, and sometimes just a bother to use. The author examines various interfaces and by clearly examining the purpose of the software shows when and how to display information in an understandable and user-friendly format. Areas discussed include when to use lists, tables, graphs, drilldowns, alternative views, using wizards, entry points, navigation models, sequences, breadcrumbs, page layout, using panels, undo, informational graphics, user forms and controls, and aesthetics. As a user frustrated with many software packages and poorly designed interfaces, Designing Interfaces should be read by everyone working with trying to create a user-friendly product.
  
  
• Interfaces need Design
  By A2ELEO8A2MYJK2 on 2006-06-26
  I've always been analytical about user interfaces, and human interfaces in general. Donald Norman's book "The Design of Everyday Things" is an excellent read for how the things we operate with on a daily basis have unintuitive ways of operation.
  
  This book, "Designing Interfaces", shows the pitfalls of navigation and user interaction on the computer environment. One of the major computer magazines (I believe it was PC World) used to have a regular section on renovating a user interface to make it more understandable. This book seems to be the logical follow-up to the ideas there.
  
  One caveat: the printing process used for this book was shoddy, with color diagrams printed with offsets that make them look blurry on the page. The content is valuable, but the way it's illustrated in the book sometimes makes it difficult to understand because of this.
  
  
• Clearly written, thoughtful content
  By A29A4LNTRMCQ0I on 2006-08-11
  I enjoyed this book for two reasons:
  1. It is nicely structured - whether you read it from beginning to end, or dip into it, it is understandable even if you're not a trained designer (I'm not)
  2. It is not tied to a particular technology or interface - Tidewell (rightly) concentrates on desigining for human behaviour rather than for specific devices. So it should (mostly) remain relevant to designers for several years.
  
  Previous reviewers have commented that the design of the book itself left a lot to be desired. However, with one exception (see below) I did not notice anything about the book's design that interfered with my reading experience.
  
  One small quibble. The references are presented in a very inefficient way. The citations in the text are not comprehensive enough for the reader to remember whether or not they have looked at the reference before, and the list of references at the end of the book is highly repetitive: references are listed under chapter headings, so if a reference is cited in three chapters, it is listed three times. This makes me cynically wonder whether the publishers wanted to give the impression of a much longer reference list than was actually cited. I would have much prefered a more scientific approach: cite the reference in the text not only with the title but with the author(s) and year, and list the references at the end in alphabetical order of first author's surname (optionally, each reference could be followed by a list of chapters). As it is, it's difficult to remember if a reference has already been cited, and to look a reference up. A minor detraction in credibility from what is otherwise an authoritative and clear book.
  
  
• Great Book
  By A9S30LHDTON3P on 2007-01-09
  Excellent resource in the various theories and ideas in Interface Design. While I tried reading it front to back, I found it much more useful to simply refer to the chapters I was interested in. Thus, I feel it is more of a reference book than a read-it-all-the-way-through book.
  
  
• Good Text - Poor Production
  By A8934RP5DOQB4 on 2005-12-29
  I came across this book while browsing in a book store. While thumbing through it, I quickly found one idea that I thought would be helpful to me in my work. I bought it and have read half of it so far. I have continued to find useful ideas in it.
  
  The main part of the book presents a series of patterns for user-interface design. The patterns are well thought out, well described, and well illustrated. Each pattern is first briefly described followed by an explanation of when, why, and how to use it along with examples.
  
  My primary complaint about this book has nothing to do with its content but rather with its production. The font chosen for the main text is very difficult to read. It is a sans serif font. "According to most studies, sans serif fonts are more difficult to read." (http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/s/sans_serif.html) In addition, it is gray instead of black. In the text, Tidwell recommends using black on white so this contradicts the book's own advice. The text also mentions on p. 281 that serif fonts are better for printed material. The figure captions compound the readability problems by making the font smaller although the captions at least use black letters rather than gray.
  
  
• At last, a good intermediate-level interface book
  By A2QS0NI689680B on 2006-01-19
  Let's start with the worst thing about the book - the title. The book is really a book of UI design patterns. You won't learn how to design an interface from reading this book. What you will get is a large collection of useful patterns and principles for applying them. Given my choice, I would have called the book "Interface Design Patterns and Principles."
  
  The best thing about this book is that it hits its target spot-on: the intermediate-level designer. I have shelves full of beginner/introductory books and quite a few specialist books for advanced designers. However, before I got this book I had nothing at all that was good for the middle of that range. Tidwell doesn't waste pages trying to bring a beginner up to the point where she could understand and use these patterns, nor does she try to get into the kinds of esoteric details that would make someone a master. I found reading the book pleasant and informative.
  
  One important metric for me of any O'Reilly book is its reference value. I don't expect them to produce step-by-step texts; rather, I use their books for answering questions, getting guidance, and giving insights. I feel this book does a fabulous job as a useful reference. I've already had several chances to refer back to it and I expect it to keep a prominent place on my reference shelf.
  
  The patterns that Tidwell develops in the book are useful and I'm particularly glad she has included a large number of examples. I might wish for more negative or counter-examples, since it's sometimes easier to learn from mistakes, but I recognize that pointing out design errors can be a tricky business. Likewise, the organization of the patterns into groups is something that just about anyone could quibble about but we'd all agree that some sort of organization is necessary to make this a good reference and not just a laundry list, and the book does that well.
  
  
• Great idea generator
  By A2JEMPBBUPVLR on 2006-02-21
  The graphical approach to this book makes all the difference. The content is good, overall, but what makes it most useful is the ability to flip through the pages and see examples of how other software companies have deployed variations of interfaces (with both good and bad results).
  If you're designing applications this belongs on your bookshelf.
  
  
  
• A good reference and prefab pattern library.
  By A1LEYDWFHQJKDU on 2007-04-29
  I found this a bit shallow as a read-through textbook or handbook, but it should make a very useful reference and may serve well as a prefab pattern library. I think it will serve best for those working on web sites and web apps, though it also covers desktop apps.
  
  
• Something for your creative toolbox
  By A1UIWUNTTXZ756 on 2006-03-06
  Interfaces. Everything has one. Even this website, or journal you are reading.
  
  This book will appeal to designers of websites and to software designers. Today software may run on the web, desktop, handheld or phone. With so many different ways to deliver information and content, its a daunting thing to deal with the differing nuances of each interface - an interface determined by the device.
  
  This book is very up todate, but probably will requrie a new edition by this time next year as next generation phones hit the North American market in full stride.
  
  The strong message in this book is the need for simplicity. Too often a product gets overdesigned. Usually by a product manager. They should be forced fed this book, though that might make them think they are designers, so not a good idea maybe.
  
  Each chapter is divided into two parts.
  First is the subject experience such as layout. This section is followed up by a great Patterns showcase of new and familiar interfaces and how they meet the challenges and elements that the chapter discusses.
  
  The chapters themselves are grouped into three parts: overall (OS, web, apps, etc.), specific items (data, user input, text and graphic editors) and polish (style, form and function).
  
  This is a great reference, and - yes - and lazy Sunday afternoon read. You should be a design professional and ahve experience under your belt such as nav bars, dialogue boxes and what a drop down is, and what it is used for effectively. This book does not tell or show you how to get that golden interface (nor should it). Designing Interfaces explains some of the key things that you should know inheritly (if not know, after you have read it) and helps strenghten your cerebral toolbox and amaze yourself.
  
  
• a must read
  By A3D7SK2JYITELG on 2006-11-11
  this book is an absolute must for any designer studying human factors and wanting to know more about designing usable interfaces. it's a very easy read and gives plenty of examples to help you fully understand everything being discussed. well worth the investment for anyone from web designers to software designers. two thumbs up.
  
  
• Earns a spot on my bookshelf at work...
  By A3R19YKNL641X3 on 2006-02-10
  OK... this one earns a spot on my bookshelf at work... Designing Interfaces by Jenifer Tidwell.
  
  Contents: What Users Do; Organizing The Content; Getting Around; Organizing The Page; Doing Things; Showing Complex Data; Getting Input From Users; Builders and Editors; Making It Look Good; References; Index
  
  This is one of those books that you'll read once and then start making post-it note bookmarks in certain areas. Tidwell starts each chapter with an explanation of that particular area of interface design. For instance, in Organizing The Content, she talks about how layout of content makes a difference in how users find and perceive the data. In addition, you have a number of constraints to work under, depending on the target of your application (full-screen monitor vs. cell phone browser). Then things get really good. She presents a number of "patterns", or practical examples of how you can implement a design technique. Sticking with the Organizing chapter, you have the following patterns: Two-Panel Selector, Canvas Plus Palette, One-Window Drilldown, Alternative Views, Wizard, Extras on Demand, Intriguing Branches, and Multi-Level Help. Each pattern has a visual showing what it looks like, a "what" explanation, a "use when" description of when it should be considered, "why" it works as a technique, "how" it should be implemented, and some "examples" of how it's used in real software and websites. What you end up with is a rich volume of design techniques that can make the difference between a "wow" application and shelfware...
  
  Like many good designs, you will probably look at some of these and not even realize that there was a pattern at play. Some designs have become de-facto standards for particular situations, and we don't even think about them any more. But when you deconstruct a site and see what's really going on, you can start to become more savvy in your choice of layout and interaction with the user. And for those of us who are more comfortable with back-end coding than front-end user interfaces, we'll take all the help we can get!
  
  This book will carve out a space within arm's reach on my work bookshelf. Periodic review of the contents will go far in making me a better designer in my development activities. I really like this book...
  
  
• Good Primer, Great Resource
  By A3GT6OSVBBJNQ0 on 2007-02-15
  A fantastic how-to and reference for interface design. Well stocked with images and illustrations. The layout is beautiful and functional. It's incredibly easy to quickly find what you need in here.
  
  Designing Interfaces is a good primer, but it's also a great reference. Shoot through the book for a quick understanding of how different interfaces work and what their design patterns are. Then keep it handy when interface discussions come up.
  
  I've already recommended it to four people who've already purchased it and a few more are on the way.
  
  Very highly recommended.
  
  
• Good but not user-friendly
  By A2AA025TVY3077 on 2007-06-15
  This book does to UI design what the well-known "Design Patterns" did for software design. Many readers, specially those experienced in graphical and UI design will find much of the content familiar, when not trivial, but the purpose of a "pattern language" book is not to break new ground but to formalize and explain a well known language.
  
  The book is beautifully laid out and illustrated. The amount of theory preceding each group of patterns seems right on the mark.
  
  ¿Why the low star rating?
  
  The book's binding broke before I finished reading it, something that's completely not user-friendly. If you're not in a hurry I'd wait for a second edition that fixes the problem.
  
  
  
  
• Finally, a practical design book
  By A2QT0KPQU671OU on 2006-01-26
  I love this book! It takes common design problems and gives patterns that you can use to solve those problems. And the solutions are illustrated in brilliant color using real world web sites and hardware devices. This is the practical design book that I have been looking for.
  
  
• VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
  By A14SRPGP0XBL0G on 2006-05-20
  Do you design user interfaces in any capacity? If you do, then this book is for you! Author Jenifer Tidwell, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that will help you design attractive, easy-to-use interfaces.
  
  Tidwell, begins by discussing common behavior and usage patterns supported well by good interfaces. Then, the author discusses information architecture as it applies to highly interactive interfaces. She continues by discussing navigation. Next, the author describes patterns for the layout and placement of page elements. Then she describes how to present actions and commands. She also discusses the cognitive aspects of data presentation, and how to use them to communicate knowledge and meaning. Then, she deals with forms and controls. The author continues by discussing techniques and patterns often used in WYSIWYG graphic editors and text editors. Finally, the author deals with aesthetics and fit-and-finish.
  
  This most excellent book will be a valuable resource for software developers, interaction designers, graphic designers, and everyone who creates software. Furthermore, you should use this dynamic book when you're looking for solutions!
  
  
  
• Tips on everything from navigation and forms to using graphic editors and structuring for actions
  By A14OJS0VWMOSWO on 2006-06-05
  Jenifer Tidwell's Designing Interfaces: Patterns For Effective Interaction Design tells how to design a range of interactive software applications for the web and other services, showing software engineers how to understand the patterns common to design solutions. Here are tips on everything from navigation and forms to using graphic editors and structuring for actions. Color screen shots, graphs and tables pack pages which demonstrate the how, when and why of interface design.
  
  
• A great way of looking at complex issues
  By A3DYDQK9HRLZPC on 2007-01-10
  There's much to enjoy about Designing Interfaces; the presentation, the clear writing, the organization of the design patterns. Strangely enough, I found it a little difficult to get into, but the specific design patterns are very valuable. Half the time it's was just to confirm long held beliefs about UI design, other times there was some wonderful insights.
  
  There is now no longer a good reason to re-invent the UI wheel every time.
  
  
• More Practical Concepts, Less Psychology
  By APS8RVDQNEGM2 on 2008-04-11
  While I don't own a physical copy of this book, I had used an electronic form of it in the course of my studies.
  
  I will first forewarn those who are interested in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) that this text does not heavily focus on the science of Psychological principles such as Gestalt Perception, nor does it concern itself with techniques/methodologies such as Threading and Model-View-Controller (MVC) to improve the performance of programs. The focus of this text falls strictly on the layout and/or graphical design in regards to interfaces and web pages.
  
  As well, each principle has certain uses depending on the medium used, which the text does a good job of elaborating (for example, cell phone programs would not be designed the same as a full Windows Application).
  
  A word to the wise though: Requirements must come before Design. There are certain design principles outlined in this text that cannot be realized if the very requirements of the program do not allow for it - For example, Microsoft Office 2007 has in many ways disregarded the principle of habituation/familiarity (as it looks much different from typical Windows Applications in general). One will still need the skill of compromise in order to apply the information presented here effectively in the real world.
  
  
• Great interface component reference
  By ANTTKQ64TTTI7 on 2008-06-13
  For many years now, I have been coding web sites and applications. Through all that time, nothing has ever been as tough for me as coming up with a design that I am truly happy with. Attempting to create an optimized and stable algorithm or coming up with the answer to a problem that requires non-conventional coding practices; these are always challenges, but ones that are most often eventually solved. Creating that mythical eye catching never-been-done-before layout is something that I have attempted and, sadly to say, usually fell short on. I suppose you'd consider this a case of a programmer wanting an application to not look like a programmer designed it. This was my reason for picking up the Designing Interfaces book.
  
  The first chapter talks about how users think. However, as I finished the chapter introduction, I realized that the author and I are definitely coming from two very different places. In my experience, I get very little hands-on with the user base, or the client that the application is being built for. Even if I do talk to the client directly, instead of going through the levels of proper channels, they usually have a set design in mind, limiting my choices. That's not to say, however, that a good designer couldn't be creative given these design constraints. On the other hand, the author mentions that building a user profile is something that eats up a lot of time though it is always worth it, and while I agree whole-heartedly, sometimes a deadline approaches too quickly or it's just not in the budget to give this the time it truly needs. Past this quibble and reading on, the patterns of human behavior in the first chapter give an almost checklist of things to keep in mind when designing, and even though you read and probably think, "common sense", it is very helpful to have in one place.
  
  As the chapters passed one by one, I found the same patterns in my reading emerge. Read the introduction to the chapters the first time you pick up the book to get an idea behind why that particular chapter is important, or, at the very least, for posterity. After that, just skip to the section in each chapter marked as "Patterns" when you need them. These patterns are where the book really shines. Each of these patterns are laid out in a similar way letting you quickly see what it is, when you would use it, why it is used (as in why it is beneficial to your user), how you create the pattern, and then some examples of its use. Considering that there are nine chapters, each with about ten different patterns, this book contains a wealth of information.
  
  I was originally hoping for more of a design lesson; color theory, placement with a hint of golden ratios, maybe a small college art class packed into 331 pages. Though I did not get much of that, at least until the last chapter or two, I definitely found an excellent reference to keep by my side. For example, if I'm building a layout, I'll open the book right up to chapter 4 to see what the common options are; for showing hierarchical data, I'm opening up to chapter 6 to see when and for what reason I might want to go with a tree map over a normal tree. I couldn't recommend it more to someone wanting a helpful component pocket guide of sorts for interfaces, but if you are looking for theory, I'd go with something more geared in that direction.
  
  

• Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition
• Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites
• Designing Interactions
• Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning
• About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design