This is the Safari online edition of the printed book.

Build Applications, Websites, and Software Solutions that Feel Faster, More Efficient, and More Considerate of Users’ Time!

One hidden factor powerfully influences the way users react to your software, hardware, User Interfaces (UI), or web applications: how those systems utilize users’ time. Now, drawing on the nearly 40 years of human computer interaction research–including his own pioneering work–Dr. Steven Seow presents state-of-the-art best practices for reflecting users’ subjective perceptions of time in your applications and hardware.

Seow begins by introducing a simple model that explains how users perceive and expend time as they interact with technology. He offers specific guidance and recommendations related to several key aspects of time and timing–including user tolerance, system responsiveness, progress indicators, completion time estimates, and more. Finally, he brings together proven techniques for impacting users’ perception of time drawn from multiple disciplines and industries, ranging from psychology to retail, animal research to entertainment.

     •    Discover how time and timing powerfully impact user perception, emotions, and behavior

     •    Systematically make your applications more considerate of users’ time

     •    Avoid common mistakes that consistently frustrate or infuriate users

     •    Manage user perceptions and tolerance, and build systems that are perceived as faster

     •    Optimize “flow” to make users feel more productive, empowered, and creative

     •    Make reasonable and informed tradeoffs that maximize limited development resources

     •    Learn how to test usability issues related to time–including actual vs. perceived task duration

Designing and Engineering Time is for every technology developer, designer, engineer, architect, usability specialist, manager, and marketer. Using its insights and techniques, technical and non-technical professionals can work together to build systems and applications that provide far more value–and create much happier users.

Steven C. Seow has a unique combination of experience in both experimental psychology and software usability. He joined Microsoft as a User Researcher after completing his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology at Brown University with a research focus on human timing and information theory models of human performance. Seow holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and wrote his master’s thesis on distortions in time perception. For more information about Steven Seow and his research, visit his website at www.StevenSeow.com.

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Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 4 Ratings

give relevant and timely feedback to the user - 2008-05-09
Reviewer Rating:
Seow presents an easy to read book about the importance of subjective time passage to a user of a computer program. The discussion includes the establishing of user-centric metrics, which are [or should be] decoupled from the technology.

So naturally, the emphasis is on the user interface. When something is happening inside the program, that takes some time duration long enough to be detected by the user, then the UI might or should have some acknowledgment or feedback in visual form. To assuage the user's perception. The simplest case is of moving graphics, that at least indicates that the program is not frozen. The book explains how, if you can provide more substantive feedback, to do so.

Like perhaps subsuming and not displaying deep technical details about what the program is doing, if this is irrelevant to your typical user. If the program can estimate reasonably accurately the percentage of progress to completion, then the UI should update this as the program churns along.

Spend your own time more wisely - 2009-11-03
Reviewer Rating:
One of the reviewers thought this book was a gem for experienced programmers, I totally disagree. I'm an experienced programmer and I suggested this book for a book club at work. We are all experienced programmers. But I did not find this book that much helpful. I would rather have spent the time it took to read the book doing something else... like reading About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design (again).

I probably found two or three concepts interesting throughout the book. In general I think it already states the obvious, uses too much comparisons and has too much images (just for the sake of it - without adding value). A MSDN article with say, 20 pages, would have been more than enough instead of a 191 p book. I expected to get some examples from real life software and to get more insight in software and how to handle time.

After reading the book I wanted to get the sense of "Hey! We can do even better software, now let's go and do it!" But instead the book left me feeling like I had wasted my time reading it from cover to cover.

When reading Designing and Enginering Time I though that it appears to be a report from a student, like a master thesis report. When discussing the book with a colleague in the book club he said the exact same thing!

The last two chapters was ok but it is still a "Don't like it" from me.

Short & Sweet - 2009-04-04
Reviewer Rating:
Experienced programmers will find this little book a gem. Seow describes the "time problem" with enough information that developers will make better decisions when dealing with the likes of click response rates, hourglasses and progress indicators.

Why the four stars? IMHO $30 seems expensive for what might've been a great MSDN article.

An excellent title for any library strong in software development or psychology - 2008-11-10
Reviewer Rating:
Once a hidden topic, discussions of how systems utilize users' time are now key to designing a solid web application, and nearly 40 years of human computer interaction research prompts Dr. Steven Seow to present a discussion of best practices for reflecting users' subjective perceptions of time in hardware and software alike. DESIGNING AND ENGINEERING TIME: PSYCHOLOGY OF TIME PERCEPTION IN SOFTWARE PSYCHOLOGY AND SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT is an excellent title for any library strong in software development or psychology.

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Top Level Categories:
Human-Computer Interaction
Software Engineering

Sub-Categories:
Human-Computer Interaction > Interface Design
Software Engineering > System Design