Dust or Magic: Secrets of Successful Multimedia Design

Rating:
Summary: Not just multimedia
Review: An exceptional book on the creative process in the IT sector, and how to make the process productive.
Despite the title and the editorial here on Amazon, it's much more than design or history of multimedia; it gives an excellent view of the priorities of human/artifact interactions (software or doorknobs), and highlights many ways of getting much more out of IT than most systems achieve.
The 'stuffed dog' analogy is one of the most serious criticisms of the current attitude toward human-computer interactions that I've heard.

Rating:
Summary: Changed my life
Review: I am an art director for an ad agency, and I design web sites. I discovered this brilliant book at the perfect time. It has made me a better designer and re-awakened my passion for what I do. This small volume is not simply a great design resource: it delves remarkably deeply into the philosophical, spiritual and even political dimensions of design, showing how and why we must infuse the work we do with heart and soul. And lest I make it sound airy-fairy, it's not; It's rigorous, practical and muscular, with not a wasted sentence. And fun to read, too. Bravo.

Rating:
Summary: Read it in the bath.
Review: I know a bit of the history of interactive media, but the more I learn the more I see I don't know nothing. Well this book is helpful on the historical side, because it is talking about the people who do the things. It is helpful also when the third part of the book talk about the creative process, and how to defend yourself against people like bad managers, annoying customers and other supicious bosses.. By giving you some hints on what to replay, when somebody tells you "what ? you're doing nothing but thinking for about an hour and you still have no idea ! hurry up!" And finally, I liked reading the book, because you don't have to be in front of a computer to test examples or whatever, this book is CD-free and is proper to go on vacation, or to offer a friend or to read in the bath... I forgot, but there are also lots of internet links to deeper informations on every topics discussed in the book, well if you like reading a book in front of your computer, you also can. Like the bible, it is a book that you can read more than once..