The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems vs Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
When comparing The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems vs Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Slant community recommends The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems for most people. In the question“What are the most influential books every programmer should read?” The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems is ranked 19th while Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is ranked 32nd. The most important reason people chose The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems is:
The author takes an in depth look at "cognitive engineering" and applying it to software design (ex. How users form habits when interacting with software).
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Looks at the psychology behind interaction design
The author takes an in depth look at "cognitive engineering" and applying it to software design (ex. How users form habits when interacting with software).
Pro Referenced all the time
Programmers seem to love this book. The whole reason I read it was that my professors referenced it all the time in college, and I see references to it all the time when looking up how to use this, that, or the other new tool I've been learning to use.
Cons
Con The point is not often clear
The Human Interface can be a confusing read for a variety of reasons.
The author is frequently referencing one of his projects, Canon Cat, even when there is no beneficial/relevant reason to do so.
There are some contradictions throughout the book, and plenty of negativity towards the studies he mentions (however, he does not often use studies to back up his own claims).
The book does not have illustrations or screenshots, making it difficult to follow at times.
Con Not actually a programming book
But that wasn't what the question was. The question was what are the most influential books.