This first book-length analysis of Amazon’s Kindle explores the platform’s technological, bibliographical, and social impact on publishing.Four Shades of Gray offers the first book-length analysis of Amazon’s Kindle and its impact on publishing. Simon Peter Rowberry recounts how Amazon built the infrastructure for a new generation of digital publications, then considers the consequences of having a single company control the direction of the publishing ind...

The ground beneath the book publishing industry dramatically shifted in 2007, the year the Kindle and the iPhone debuted. Widespread consumer demand for these and other devices has brought the pace of digital change in book publishing from "it might happen sometime" to "it’s happening right now"—and it is happening faster than anyone predicted.Yet this is only a transitional phase. Book: A Futurist’s Manifesto is your guide to what comes next, when all books are truly digi...

What people are saying about Search Patterns"Search Patterns is a delight to read -- very thoughtful and thought provoking. It's the most comprehensive survey of designing effective search experiences I've seen." --Irene Au, Director of User Experience, Google"I love this book! Thanks to Peter and Jeffery, I now know that search (yes, boring old yucky who cares search) is one of the coolest ways around of looking at the world." --Dan Roam,...

Even the most thought-out and best-planned user experience can get lost when attention to certain details falls short. To raise awareness for those little things that add up to an ideal user experience, we have put together "Designing Better UX". The practical approaches for designing better UX cover mobile apps, adaptive systems, and multi-screen experiences. The eBook is packed with in-depth tips and tricks shared by experts from the industry. They cons...

In "Rethinking UX", various UX professionals share their lessons learned and provide practical advice from their very own personal experience. The eBook is packed with interesting thoughts and concepts that let us reflect on our own practices. Every designer has their own user research techniques and strategies, but leaving the office and talking to people on the streets can foster innovation even more as any thought-out strategy ever could.  Is empa...

Communications for ICT is an essential guide to technical communication for IT professionals. Whether you want to become a Technical Writer, or simply an IT professional who wants to become better at doing documentation (and that can boost your career), this handy guide is for you. Going well beyond the conventional technical communication text book, it also includes important topics such as professional conduct, argument/persuasion, software project documentation (like requirements specif...

Search is not just a box and ten blue links. Search is a journey: an exploration where what we encounter along the way changes what we seek. But in order to guide people along this journey, designers must understand both the art and science of search.In Designing the Search Experience, authors Tony Russell-Rose and Tyler Tate weave together the theories of information seeking with the practice of user interface design. - Understand how people search, and how the concepts of information see...

Best of TOC is a collection of essential posts from the last 12 months, selected from the TOC blog and a number of external sources.One of the mantras at Tools of Change is "fail forward fast," which is an alliterative way of encouraging experimentation. That's why we felt it appropriate to use Best of TOC as a testing ground for a "Web-to-book" process. As we hoped, experimentation led to lessons we wouldn't have learned otherwise.The material in Best...

The user-centered design process is based on various steps, each with its respective approaches. Learn about designing flows, optimizing emotional engagement and performing heuristic website reviews. This eBook (eBook #20) provides you with several practical techniques that will help make your Web applications appeal to the masses, transforming them into lightweight yet efficient user experiences.TABLE OF CONTENTS- Evolve Your User Interface To Educate Your Users- Op...

In this fully updated fourth edition of The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook, award-winning writer and internet trainer Ran Hock covers strategies and tools—including search engines, directories, portals, and social networks—for all major areas of internet content. Readers with little to moderate searching experience will appreciate Hock's helpful, easy-to-follow advice, while experienced searchers will discover a wealth of new ideas, techniques, and resources. Anyone who teaches the i...

The pace at which the Web rolls today has picked up, and we feel obliged to give you a status report and outlook. This eBook focuses on recent changes in Web development, as well as design trends that are likely to catch on and could have a substantial effect on our workflow. Be prepared for the onset of innovative approaches such as responsive Web design, and learn how to apply psychology-based persuasion triggers in your designs. Clear up some myths about HTML5 and CSS3, and ma...

GUI Bloopers 2.0, Second Edition, is the completely updated and revised version of GUI Bloopers. It looks at user interface design bloopers from commercial software, Web sites, Web applications, and information appliances, explaining how intelligent, well-intentioned professionals make these mistakes – and how you can avoid them. GUI expert Jeff Johnson presents the reality of interface design in an entertaining, anecdotal, and instructive way while equipping readers with the minimum of th...