Name: iPhone User Interface Design ProjectsAuthor: VariousPublisher: APressPrice: $39.99Pages: 252Reviewed by: Pete GoodliffeBook homepage: hereVerdict: OK
This is another book in APress' iPhone development series. Like all the later books in the series, it's produced in black and white, which is a shame given that the book focuses on user interfaces.
It is a collection of essays from ten different authors. Each chapter stands alone. Some of the authors are clearly programmers, and their descriptions of interface design come from a techie viewpoint. Others authors are domain experts or people who hired in programmers to get their job done. These discussions are far less technical in nature.
I've read quite a few of the APress iPhone books now, and although they are good, I'm starting to get tired of each chapter starting with a gushing "the iPhone is great" section before getting into the meat of the topic. I'd like to see a little heavier editorial control if this series continues. The chapters are personal in nature, and that is part of the charm of these books. However some of the lengthy intros add nothing of value to their chapters.
The material in this book is not as strong as others in this series. This opinion does reflect my bias as a coder rather than an UI designer, but experienced UI designers won't find much essential or new information in this book. In general, good iPhone UI design requires an understanding the native iPhone idioms and of how to create compelling touch-based interfaces for small screen sizes. Some chapters go a way towards describing this; but sadly the book is by no means a compelling or thorough discourse on the subject.
I will admit my favourite chapter was a very interesting one on the Font catalogue application FontShuffle. The UI material here was somewhat thin, but it was a really interesting insight into the world of typography.
If you're starting off on some iPhone UI design work, know nothing about the topic, and fancy a chatty, but brief, introduction to subject this book is OK. If you are a UI designer then you'll probably not find much of value here.
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