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	<title>Aarron Walter &#187; Books</title>
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		<title>Emotional Design Reading List</title>
		<link>http://aarronwalter.com/2011/11/17/emotional-design-reading-list/</link>
		<comments>http://aarronwalter.com/2011/11/17/emotional-design-reading-list/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:42:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aarron</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Emotional Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Inspiration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[User Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UX]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[content-strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[emotion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[emotional-design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[psychology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ux]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web design]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://aarronwalter.com/?p=1368</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>There are a host of interesting books about psychology, design, emotion, and how our brains work that informed my book, <a href="http://www.abookapart.com/products/designing-for-emotion" target="_blank">Designing for Emotion</a>. Here's a list of essential books for the shelves of any user experience designer, web designer, or content strategist interested in the topic of emotional design.</p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There are a host of interesting books about psychology, design, emotion, and how our brains work that informed my book, <a href="http://www.abookapart.com/products/designing-for-emotion" target="_blank">Designing for Emotion</a>. Here&#8217;s a list of essential books for the shelves of any user experience designer, web designer, or content strategist interested in the topic of emotional design.</p>
<p><span id="more-1368"></span></p>
<div class="unit above-below15">
<hgroup>
<h3><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Whole-New-Mind-Right-Brainers-Future/dp/1594481717/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank">A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule The Future</a></h3>
<h4>David H. Pink</h4>
</hgroup>
<figure class="unit size1of2 rgutter"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Whole-New-Mind-Right-Brainers-Future/dp/1594481717/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank"><img alt="A Whole New Mind" src="http://aarronwalter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/aarronwalter-20.png" title="A Whole New Mind" /></a></figure>
<div class="unit size1of2 rgutter">
<p>The future belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind: artists, inventors, storytellers-creative and holistic &#8220;right-brain&#8221; thinkers whose abilities mark the fault line between who gets ahead and who doesn&#8217;t.</p>
<p>Drawing on research from around the world, Pink outlines the six fundamentally human abilities that are absolute essentials for professional success and personal fulfillment-and reveals how to master them. A Whole New Mind takes readers to a daring new place, and a provocative and necessary new way of thinking about a future that&#8217;s already here.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Whole-New-Mind-Right-Brainers-Future/dp/1594481717/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank" class="action-button-sm">buy the book</a></p>
</p></div>
</div>
<div class="unit above-below15">
<hgroup>
<h3><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Design-Love-Everyday-Things/dp/0465051367/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank">Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things</a></h3>
<h4>Donald Norman</h4>
</hgroup>
<figure class="unit size1of2 rgutter"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Design-Love-Everyday-Things/dp/0465051367/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank"><img alt="Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things" src="http://aarronwalter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/aarronwalter-20-1.png" title="Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things"  /></a></figure>
<div class="unit size1of2 rgutter">
<p>Did you ever wonder why cheap wine tastes better in fancy glasses? Why sales of Macintosh computers soared when Apple introduced the colorful iMac? New research on emotion and cognition has shown that attractive things really do work better, as Donald Norman amply demonstrates in this fascinating book, which has garnered acclaim everywhere from Scientific American to The New Yorker.Emotional Design articulates the profound influence of the feelings that objects evoke, from our willingness to spend thousands of dollars on Gucci bags and Rolex watches, to the impact of emotion on the everyday objects of tomorrow.Norman draws on a wealth of examples and the latest scientific insights to present a bold exploration of the objects in our everyday world. Emotional Design will appeal not only to designers and manufacturers but also to managers, psychologists, and general readers who love to think about their stuff.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Design-Love-Everyday-Things/dp/0465051367/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank" class="action-button-sm">buy the book</a></p>
</p></div>
</div>
<div class="unit above-below15">
<hgroup>
<h3><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Seductive-Interaction-Design-Effective-Experiences/dp/0321725522/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank">Seductive Interaction Design: Creating Playful, Fun, and Effective User Experiences</a></h3>
<h4>Stephen Anderson</h4>
</hgroup>
<figure class="unit size1of2 rgutter"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Seductive-Interaction-Design-Effective-Experiences/dp/0321725522/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank"><img alt="Seductive Interaction Design: Creating Playful, Fun, and Effective User Experiences" src="http://aarronwalter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/aarronwalter-20-2.png" title="Seductive Interaction Design: Creating Playful, Fun, and Effective User Experiences" /></a></figure>
<div class="unit size1of2 rgutter">
<p>What happens when you’ve built a great website or app, but no one seems to care? How do you get people to stick around long enough to see how your service might be of value? In Seductive Interaction Design, speaker and author Stephen P. Anderson takes a fresh approach to designing sites and interactions based on the stages of seduction. This beautifully designed book examines what motivates people to act.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Seductive-Interaction-Design-Effective-Experiences/dp/0321725522/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank" class="action-button-sm">buy the book</a></p>
</p></div>
</div>
<div class="unit above-below15">
<hgroup>
<h3><a href="http://www.amazon.com/General-Theory-Thomas-Lannon-Richard/dp/0375709223/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank">A General Theory of Love</a></h3>
<h4>Thomas Lewis M.D., Fari Amini M.D., Richard Lannon M.D.</h4>
</hgroup>
<figure class="unit size1of2 rgutter"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/General-Theory-Thomas-Lannon-Richard/dp/0375709223/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank"><img alt="A General Theory of Love" src="http://aarronwalter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/aarronwalter-20-3.png" title="A General Theory of Love" /></a></figure>
<div class="unit size1of2 rgutter">
<p>Drawing comparisons to the most eloquent science writing of our day, three eminent psychiatrists tackle the difficult task of reconciling what artists and thinkers have known for thousands of years about the human heart with what has only recently been learned about the primitive functions of the human brain. The result is an original, lucid, at times moving account of the complexities of love and its essential role in human well-being.</p>
<p>A General Theory of Love draws on the latest scientific research to demonstrate that our nervous systems are not self-contained: from earliest childhood, our brains actually link with those of the people close to us, in a silent rhythm that alters the very structure of our brains, establishes life-long emotional patterns, and makes us, in large part, who we are. Explaining how relationships function, how parents shape their child’s developing self, how psychotherapy really works, and how our society dangerously flouts essential emotional laws, this is a work of rare passion and eloquence that will forever change the way you think about human intimacy.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/General-Theory-Thomas-Lannon-Richard/dp/0375709223/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank" class="action-button-sm">buy the book</a></p>
</p></div>
</div>
<div class="unit above-below15">
<hgroup>
<h3><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Descartes-Error-Emotion-Reason-Human/dp/014303622X/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank">Descartes&#8217; Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain</a></h3>
<h4>Antonio Damasio</h4>
</hgroup>
<figure class="unit size1of2 rgutter"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Descartes-Error-Emotion-Reason-Human/dp/014303622X/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank"><img alt="Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain" src="http://aarronwalter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/aarronwalter-20-4.png" title="Descartes&#039; Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain" /></a></figure>
<div class="unit size1of2 rgutter">
<p>Since Descartes famously proclaimed, &#8220;I think, therefore I am,&#8221; science has often overlooked emotions as the source of a person’s true being. Even modern neuroscience has tended, until recently, to concentrate on the cognitive aspects of brain function, disregarding emotions. This attitude began to change with the publication of Descartes’ Error in 1995. Antonio Damasio—&#8221;one of the world’s leading neurologists&#8221; (The New York Times)—challenged traditional ideas about the connection between emotions and rationality. In this wondrously engaging book, Damasio takes the reader on a journey of scientific discovery through a series of case studies, demonstrating what many of us have long suspected: emotions are not a luxury, they are essential to rational thinking and to normal social behavior.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Descartes-Error-Emotion-Reason-Human/dp/014303622X/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank" class="action-button-sm">buy the book</a></p>
</p></div>
</div>
<div class="unit above-below15">
<hgroup>
<h3><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-What-Happens-Emotion-Consciousness/dp/0156010755/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank">The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness</a></h3>
<h4>Antonio Damasio</h4>
</hgroup>
<figure class="unit size1of2 rgutter"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-What-Happens-Emotion-Consciousness/dp/0156010755/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank"><img alt="The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness" src="http://aarronwalter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/aarronwalter-20-5.png" title="The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness" /></a></figure>
<div class="unit size1of2 rgutter">
<p>How is it that we know what we know? How is it that our conscious and private minds have a sense of self? A gifted medical clinician and scientific thinker, Damasio helps readers to ask and answer questions about what it is to be human. His elegant investigation of feeling and emotion offers a new understanding of the conscious mind and, as the New York Times has noted, &#8220;will change your experience of yourself.&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-What-Happens-Emotion-Consciousness/dp/0156010755/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank" class="action-button-sm">buy the book</a></p>
</p></div>
</div>
<div class="unit above-below15">
<hgroup>
<h3><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Spinoza-Sorrow-Feeling-Brain/dp/0156028719/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank">Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain</a></h3>
<h4>Antonio Damasio</h4>
</hgroup>
<figure class="unit size1of2 rgutter"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Spinoza-Sorrow-Feeling-Brain/dp/0156028719/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank"><img alt="Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain" src="http://aarronwalter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/aarronwalter-20-6.png" title="Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain" /></a></figure>
<div class="unit size1of2 rgutter">
<p>Joy, sorrow, jealousy, and awe—these and other feelings are the stuff of our daily lives. In the seventeenth century, the philosopher Spinoza devoted much of his life&#8217;s work examining how these emotions supported human survival, yet hundreds of years later the biological roots of what we feel remain a mystery. Leading neuroscientist Antonio Damasio—whose earlier books explore rational behavior and the notion of the self—rediscovers a man whose work ran counter to all the thinking of his day, pairing Spinoza&#8217;s insights with his own innovative scientific research to help us understand what we&#8217;re made of, and what we&#8217;re here for.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Spinoza-Sorrow-Feeling-Brain/dp/0156028719/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank" class="action-button-sm">buy the book</a></p>
</p></div>
</div>
<div class="unit above-below15">
<hgroup>
<h3><a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Mind-Works-Steven-Pinker/dp/0393334775/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank">How The Mind Works</a></h3>
<h4>Steven Pinker</h4>
</hgroup>
<figure class="unit size1of2 rgutter"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Mind-Works-Steven-Pinker/dp/0393334775/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank"><img alt="How The Mind Works" src="http://aarronwalter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/aarronwalter-20-7.png" title="How The Mind Works" /></a></figure>
<div class="unit size1of2 rgutter">
<p>The Pulitzer Prize finalist and national bestseller How the Mind Works is a fascinating, provocative work exploring the mysteries of human thought and behavior. How do we see in three dimensions? How do we remember names and faces? How is it, indeed, that we ponder the nature of our own consciousness? Why do we fall in love? In this bold, extraordinary book, Pinker synthesizes the best of cognitive science and evolutionary biology to explain what the mind is, how it has evolved, and, ultimately, how it works. This edition includes a new afterword that explores the impact of the book and its relevance today.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Mind-Works-Steven-Pinker/dp/0393334775/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank" class="action-button-sm">buy the book</a></p>
</p></div>
</div>
<div class="unit above-below15">
<hgroup>
<h3><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Rules-Principles-Surviving-Thriving/dp/0979777747/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank">Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School</a></h3>
<h4>John Medina</h4>
</hgroup>
<figure class="unit size1of2 rgutter"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Rules-Principles-Surviving-Thriving/dp/0979777747/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank"><img alt="Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School" src="http://aarronwalter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/aarronwalter-20-8.png" title="Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School" /></a></figure>
<div class="unit size1of2 rgutter">
<p>See how the brain works while using it in the process of reading this book! Most of us have no idea what&#8217;s really going on inside our heads. Yet brain scientists have uncovered details every business leader, parent, and teacher should know &#8211; like that physical activity boosts your brain power.</p>
<p>How do we learn? What exactly do sleep and stress do to our brains? Why is multi-tasking a myth? Why is it so easy to forget &#8211; and so important to repeat new information? Is it true that men and women have different brains?</p>
<p>In Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina, a molecular biologist, shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule &#8211; what scientists know for sure about how our brains work &#8211; and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Rules-Principles-Surviving-Thriving/dp/0979777747/aarronwalter-20/" target="_blank" class="action-button-sm">buy the book</a></p>
</p></div>
</div>
<div class="unit above-below15">
<hgroup>
<h3><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-expression-emotions-in/id361711497?mt=11" target="_blank">The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals</a></h3>
<h4>Charles Darwin</h4>
</hgroup>
<figure class="unit size1of2 rgutter"><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-expression-emotions-in/id361711497?mt=11" target="_blank"><img alt="The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals" src="http://aarronwalter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/id361711497.png" title="The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals" /></a></figure>
<div class="unit size1of2 rgutter">
<p>Published in 1871, this book explores the universality of emotional expression in humans regardless of culture, and even in animals.</p>
<p><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-expression-emotions-in/id361711497?mt=11" target="_blank" class="action-button-sm">download the book free</a></p>
</p></div>
</div>
<div class="unit above-below15">
<hgroup>
<h3><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Darwins-Camera-Photography-Evolution-ebook/dp/B005253FIM/aarronwalter-20" target="_blank">Darwin&#8217;s Camera: Art and Photography in the Theory of Evolution</a></h3>
<h4>Phillip Prodger</h4>
</hgroup>
<figure class="unit size1of2 rgutter"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Darwins-Camera-Photography-Evolution-ebook/dp/B005253FIM/aarronwalter-20" target="_blank"><img alt="Darwin&#039;s Camera : Art and Photography in the Theory of Evolution" src="http://aarronwalter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/aarronwalter-20-9.png" title="Darwin&#039;s Camera : Art and Photography in the Theory of Evolution" /></a></figure>
<div class="unit size1of2 rgutter">
<p>Darwin&#8217;s Camera tells the extraordinary story of how Charles Darwin changed the way pictures are seen and made.</p>
<p>In his illustrated masterpiece, Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1871), Darwin introduced the idea of using photographs to illustrate a scientific theory&#8211;his was the first photographically illustrated science book ever published. Using photographs to depict fleeting expressions of emotion&#8211;laughter, crying, anger, and so on&#8211;as they flit across a person&#8217;s face, he managed to produce dramatic images at a time when photography was famously slow and awkward. The book describes how Darwin struggled to get the pictures he needed, scouring the galleries, bookshops, and photographic studios of London, looking for pictures to satisfy his demand for expressive imagery. He finally settled on one the giants of photographic history, the eccentric art photographer Oscar Rejlander, to make his pictures. It was a peculiar choice. Darwin was known for his meticulous science, while Rejlander was notorious for altering and manipulating photographs. Their remarkable collaboration is one of the astonishing revelations in Darwin&#8217;s Camera.</p>
<p>Darwin never studied art formally, but he was always interested in art and often drew on art knowledge as his work unfolded. He mingled with the artists on the voyage of HMS Beagle, he visited art museums to examine figures and animals in paintings, associated with artists, and read art history books. He befriended the celebrated animal painters Joseph Wolf and Briton Riviere, and accepted the Pre-Raphaelite sculptor Thomas Woolner as a trusted guide. He corresponded with legendary photographers Lewis Carroll, Julia Margaret Cameron, and G.-B. Duchenne de Boulogne, as well as many lesser lights. Darwin&#8217;s Camera provides the first examination ever of these relationships and their effect on Darwin&#8217;s work, and how Darwin, in turn, shaped the history of art.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Darwins-Camera-Photography-Evolution-ebook/dp/B005253FIM/aarronwalter-20" target="_blank" class="action-button-sm">buy the book</a></p>
</p></div>
</div>
<p>And of course, there&#8217;s this little book too.</p>
<div class="unit above-below15">
<hgroup>
<h3><a href="http://www.abookapart.com/products/designing-for-emotion" target="_blank">Designing for Emotion</a></h3>
<h4>Aarron Walter</h4>
</hgroup>
<figure class="unit size1of2 rgutter"><a href="http://www.abookapart.com/products/designing-for-emotion" target="_blank"><img src="http://aarronwalter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/aea-cover-5-e1321565603829.png" alt="Designing for Emotion" title="Designing for Emotion" width="200" height="309" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1400" /></a></figure>
<div class="unit size1of2 rgutter">
<p>Make your users fall in love with your site via the precepts packed into this brief, charming book by MailChimp user experience design lead Aarron Walter. From classic psychology to case studies, highbrow concepts to common sense, Designing for Emotion demonstrates accessible strategies and memorable methods to help you make a human connection through design.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.abookapart.com/products/designing-for-emotion" target="_blank" class="action-button-sm">buy the book</a></p>
</p></div>
</div>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://aarronwalter.com/2011/11/17/emotional-design-reading-list/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>36</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Designing for Emotion: Book 5 from A Book Apart</title>
		<link>http://aarronwalter.com/2011/10/18/designing-for-emotion/</link>
		<comments>http://aarronwalter.com/2011/10/18/designing-for-emotion/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:06:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aarron</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Emotional Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Soliloquy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[User Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UX]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[a-book-apart]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[emotional-design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mobile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ux]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://aarronwalter.com/?p=1315</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My new book, <a href="http://www.abookapart.com/products/designing-for-emotion" title="Designing for Emotion by Aarron Walter" target="_blank">Designing for Emotion</a>, has just been published by A Book Apart.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Nearly four years ago I stumbled onto a topic that I just can&#8217;t get off my mind. As we&#8217;ve started to share more of our personal lives online and the barriers of our public personas have begun to crumble, we&#8217;ve started speaking with a more authentic voice. The blurred line between personal and professional is starting to influence our expectations of the products and services we seek.</p>
<figure><a href="http://www.abookapart.com/products/designing-for-emotion"><img src="http://aarronwalter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/designing-for-emotion-1024x764.jpg" alt="Designing for Emotion" title="Designing for Emotion" /></a></figure>
<p><span id="more-1315"></span> </p>
<p>The sites, products, and brands that resonate most with people today are the ones that are human, honest and have a clear personality. It&#8217;s through personality and emotion that companies are forging real relationships with their customers and standing out in a sea of competitors. You don&#8217;t have to take my word for it, though. There are others in the <a href="http://vimeo.com/7730620" title="Andy Budd on seductive design" target="_blank">UX</a> <a href="http://getmentalnotes.com/" title="Mental Notes by Stephen Anderson" target="_blank">community</a> and even <a href="http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2011/09/minimum-viable-personality.html" title="Fred Wilson on personality in product design" target="_blank">in the VC</a> and <a href="http://www.jasonshen.com/2011/how-to-give-your-product-personality/" title="Jason Shen on personality in product design" target="_blank">startup communities</a> that are seeing a serious shift towards designing for emotion.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve been wondering, how should designers, startups, UX folks and companies rethink how they present themselves and become more human? How do we go about making products feel like people? How do transcend usability and create experiences that are delightful? These are the questions that sparked the research and ideas presented in my new book, <a href="http://www.abookapart.com/products/designing-for-emotion" title="Designing for Emotion by Aarron Walter" target="_blank">Designing for Emotion</a>.</p>
<p>Packed into this tiny, purple volume you&#8217;ll find core principles of psychology, a plethora of case studies, techniques that will help you make a human connection through design and data that will convince skeptical management. This book is the culmination of four years of experimenting with emotional design <a href="http://mailchimp.com" title="I'm the UX lead at MailChimp" target="_blank">in my work</a>, more than a year of research, and countless interviews with other web and product designers who are uncovering new connections between design and emotion.
</p>
<p>It&#8217;s so gratifying to hold the culmination of these efforts in my hands, and how cool it is to see it on tablet devices too. French, Korean, and Russian readers will be happy to know that translations are in the works.</p>
<p>I have endless hugs and high fives for the brilliant folks that helped me craft this book. <a href="http://zeldman.com" target="_blank">Jeffrey</a>, <a href="http://aworkinglibrary.com" target="_blank">Mandy</a>, <a href="http://jasonsantamaria.com" target="_blank">Jason</a>, <a href="http://http://kristastevens.com/" target="_blank">Krista</a>, <a href="http://robweychert.com" target="_blank">Rob</a>, <a href="http://whitneyhess.com" target="_blank">Whitney</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/r_weisburd" target="_blank">Rose</a> and <a href="http://uie.com" target="_blank">Jared</a>, I thank you for making this little purple book sing.</p>
<p>I hope you enjoy <a href="http://www.abookapart.com/products/designing-for-emotion" title="Designing for Emotion by Aarron Walter" target="_blank">Designing for Emotion</a>, and I hope it inspires your work. <a href="http://aarronwalter.com/contact/">I&#8217;d love to hear your thoughts on the book and your perspective on emotional design</a>.</p>
<h3>Mobile First</h3>
<p>It&#8217;s an honor to publish with A Book Apart, but it&#8217;s twice as nice to have <a href="http://www.abookapart.com/products/designing-for-emotion" title="Designing for Emotion by Aarron Walter" target="_blank">Designing for Emotion</a> launch along side <a href="http://www.abookapart.com/products/mobile-first" title="Mobile first by Luke Wroblewski" target="_blank">Mobile First by Luke Wroblewski</a>. The mobile experience is no longer a &#8220;nice to have&#8221; feature in a project. It&#8217;s essential. Luke&#8217;s book will walk you through core mobile design strategies and help you see how central mobile design is to all interface design. It&#8217;s an amazing book that I am certain you&#8217;ll enjoy.</p>
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		<title>Book Review: Designing the Obvious, Designing the Moment</title>
		<link>http://aarronwalter.com/2008/07/13/book-review-designing-the-obvious-designing-the-moment/</link>
		<comments>http://aarronwalter.com/2008/07/13/book-review-designing-the-obvious-designing-the-moment/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:11:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aarron</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[User Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interaction design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usability]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://aarronwalter.com/?p=194</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[User Experience Designer Robert Hoekman Jr has written a pair of wonderfully lucid books that examine best practices in interaction design. In Designing the Obvious, and Designing the Moment, Hoekman extolls the virtues of understanding specific user tasks rather than generalized user personas. It&#8217;s easiest to design usable interfaces when the activity it serves is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure class="left"><a href="ttp://www.amazon.com/Designing-Obvious-Common-Approach-Application/dp/032145345X/aarronwalterc-20/" rel="external"><img src="http://www.peachpit.com/ShowCover.aspx?isbn=032145345X&#038;type=c" alt="Designing the Obvious, Robert Hoekman Jr" /></a></figure>
<figure class="left last"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Moment-Interface-Design-Concepts/dp/0321535081/aarronwalterc-20/" rel="external"><img src="http://aarronwalter.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/dtm.jpg" alt="Designing the Moment, Robert Hoekman Jr" /></a></figure>
<p>User Experience Designer <a href="http://rhjr.net/" rel="external">Robert Hoekman Jr</a> has written a pair of wonderfully lucid books that examine best practices in interaction design. In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/b?%5Fencoding=UTF8&#038;site-redirect=&#038;node=1000&#038;tag=aarronwalterc-20&#038;linkCode=ur2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325" rel="external">Designing the Obvious</a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/b?%5Fencoding=UTF8&#038;site-redirect=&#038;node=1000&#038;tag=aarronwalterc-20&#038;linkCode=ur2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325" rel="external">Designing the Moment</a>, Hoekman extolls the virtues of understanding specific user tasks rather than generalized user personas. It&#8217;s easiest to design usable interfaces when the activity it serves is clearly understood.</p>
<p><span id="more-225"></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Obvious-Common-Approach-Application/dp/032145345X/aarronwalterc-20/" rel="external">Designing the Obvious</a> contains a canon of heuristics developed from careful study of user behavior. As the title suggests, with knowledge of user expectations, and a little understanding of design patterns, an interface can make the steps to performing a task obvious.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Moment-Interface-Design-Concepts/dp/0321535081/aarronwalterc-20/" rel="external">Designing the Moment</a> picks up where its predecessor leaves off by pointing out that each smaller interaction adds up to a bigger experience. This book is all about defining our user&#8217;s goals, and identifying how we can best help them achieve them.</p>
<p>The conversational tone of Hoekman&#8217;s writing and the bounty of compelling, real-world examples he uses to drive home each principle make porting his recommendations into your practice easy. These books read easy, and contain lots of practical information that&#8217;s sure to be applicable to your next website or application design project.</p>
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		<title>What&#039;s it Like to Write a Book?</title>
		<link>http://aarronwalter.com/2008/02/22/whats-it-like-to-write-a-book/</link>
		<comments>http://aarronwalter.com/2008/02/22/whats-it-like-to-write-a-book/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:50:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aarron</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Findability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Soliloquy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Standards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[building findable websites]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://aarronwalter.com/2008/02/22/whats-it-like-to-write-a-book/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[At SXSW last year I met Michael Nolan &#8211; senior acquisitions editor for Peachpit Press &#8211; and pitched him my idea for the book Building Findable Websites. Almost one year later the book is in print and on its way to a bookstore near you. This book has occupied the bulk of my time for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>At <a href="http://sxsw.com/interactive/" rel="external">SXSW</a> last year I met Michael Nolan &#8211; senior acquisitions editor for <a href="http://peachpit.com" rel="external">Peachpit Press</a> &#8211; and pitched him my idea for the book <a href="http://buildingfindablewebsites.com" rel="external">Building Findable Websites</a>. Almost one year later the book is in print and on its way to a bookstore near you. <span id="more-217"></span>This book has occupied the bulk of my time for the past year, which is why my blog has been sorely neglected. Thanks for sticking around even when things went quiet.</p>
<p>Now that the manuscript has been transformed into a glossy cover-wrapped volume, I thought I&#8217;d share with you my experience. I&#8217;ve often wondered what it&#8217;s like to devote yourself to a single topic for such an extended period of time, and how the publishing process works. It&#8217;s something that is often romanticized as an extended, solitary expedition into deep, meaningful thoughts. Although there&#8217;s a bit of romance inÂ theÂ writing process, there&#8217;s also a lot of research, attention to form and continuity, second guessing of yourself, and old fashioned hard work along the way.</p>
<p>As a teacher for nearly a decade, I&#8217;ve become accustomed to reading my student&#8217;s faces to determine whether or not I&#8217;m making any sense. Writing doesn&#8217;t afford this luxury. For months on end I wrote and wrote sometimes wondering if my extensive passages would provide enough information to the reader to help them grasp my point, or maybe I was getting too detailed which could beÂ patronizingÂ and slow. Of course, my editors Jeff Riley, and <a href="http://snook.ca" rel="external">Jonathan Snook</a> helped me answer these internal questions along the way, but the feedback loop is a lotÂ differentÂ than explaining something in person and changing tack immediately when you see your message isn&#8217;t hitting its mark.Â Somewhere along the way I got over the second guessing and plowed ahead. After chapter 3 I felt like I had found my stride, and the overall structure of the book started to become more apparent.</p>
<h4>The Process of Publishing and the People Involved</h4>
<p>There were a lot of people involved in the publishing process &#8211; a whole team, in fact. As the acquisitions editor, Michael Nolan received my written proposal for the book and a sample chapter then presented it to a board of publishing gurus at Peachpit who evaluated its relevance to the target audience, looked at other books that already explored similar topics, and made a final decision on whether or not to publish it. This was a pretty slow process. I submitted the proposal in April then bit my nails until late July when the official green light was handed down. The writing process didn&#8217;t start until August of 2007 -six months after my initial conversation with Michael. After the proposal was accepted Michael acted as the project manager for the book, coordinating the entire team.</p>
<p>Jeff Riley was my development editor. His job was to provide feedback on the form and structure of my writing. He evaluated all formatting for consistency, passed each chapter on to <a href="http://snook.ca" rel="external">Jonathan Snook</a> the technical editor who evaluated all code and techy concepts, then passed the combined edits and feedback to me. I then made the requested changes or decided to stick to my guns at times and leave things as they were. My changes went back to Jeff for another pass and prep for the production team who handled the formatting and layout.</p>
<p>While I was writing, the design team was working on the page layout and various elements that would be included in each chapter. They used a sample chapter to design the treatments for tables, figures, captions, tips, and various sidebar elements. This was shared with me for feedback, and revised one more time before placing the manuscript into the page templates.Kate Reber &#8211; the production editor &#8211; coordinated all of the pre-press production of the book. Once she had all of the content into the design we went through each chapter three times to tweak the layout and catch any oversights. A proof reader also went through the entire book a few times again checking for errata and inconsistencies. I&#8217;m not sure how many times we all read the book, but I think I read through each page about 8 to 10 times. I think I could now recite it from cove to cover.</p>
<h4>A Little Overzealous &#8211; Too Many Chapters</h4>
<p>I had a lot to say on the subject of findability, so much so that I wrote 5 chapters too many to fit in the book. I started to get nervous about the length in October, and by December we realized that there was roughly 106 pages too many. I felt like I was lopping limbs off of my first born as we excised chapters to make the target length, but luckily all of this content is published on the book&#8217;s companion website <a href="http://buildingfindablewebsites.com" rel="external">http://buildingfindablewebsites.com</a> as free PDF downloads. Although these chapters aren&#8217;t in print, they&#8217;re not lost.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s extremely satisfying to wrap up such a long, intense process and hold the final product in your hands. I hope this book achieves my original goal &#8211;  to create a better awareness of findability and its close relationship to web standards best practices. You can join the findability discussion in the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=12109141577" rel="external">Facebok group</a>.</p>
<p>If you are going to be at SXSW this year or any of the other <a href="http://buildingfindablewebsites.com/events.php" rel="external">conferences where I&#8217;ll be speaking</a>, please do introduce yourself. I&#8217;d love to hear your perspective on the book.</p>
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