Carolyn Snyder - Paper Prototyping: The Fast and Easy Way to Design and Refine User Interfaces

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2002115472

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

To my parents Clif and Lillian Snyder, who raised me with unconditional love, awesome siblings Nancy and Gordon, and self-affirming wisdom like "You never know until you try," "Use your own good judgment," "Why don't you look it up?" and "Were you born on the side of the hill where the doors fell shut?" (Well, maybe not that last bit.)

About the Author

Carolyn Snyder earned her experience in unusable interfaces the hard waythe first 10 years of her career were devoted to creating them, first as a software engineer and then as a project manager. After a decade spent face-down in the code, she discovered that there were real people out there who actually used those interfaces. And thus was a usability specialist born.

In 1993, Carolyn joined User Interface Engineering, a prominent U.S. usability consulting firm founded by Jared Spool, where she specialized in usability testing and paper prototyping. In 1999, she started Snyder Consulting (www.snyderconsulting.net) to focus on the work she loves mostthe hands-on involvement with development teams that empowers them to make usable and successful products. Carolyn has worked with dozens of clients, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups. She also teaches seminars and writes articles about usability topics.

Carolyn has a BS in Computer Science from the University of Illinois and an MBA from the University of Chicago. She is co-author of two usability books: Web Site Usability: A Designer's Guide and E-commerce User Experience. In her spare time, she rides her pink and black tiger-striped Harley, reads sci-fi/fantasy novels, and volunteers at an animal shelter.

Acknowledgments

It takes an entire village to raise an idiot. Oops, tangled metaphors, sorry....I'll start over.

It takes a whole professional community to support an author. Writing down everything you know about a subject is only the first step. Writing a good book means calling upon a whole raft of people to fill in all the holes in your knowledge and experience. Fortunately, the usability community consists of some of the nicest, smartest, and most helpful people I know.

First and foremost, Jared Spool, founder of User Interface Engineering, my mentor and friend. Jared introduced me to usability and taught me most of what I know about paper prototypingwithout him, I wouldn't be a usability consultant and this book wouldn't exist.

It was Mary Beth Rettger's enthusiasm that first convinced me to write this book. She has been a staunch supporter of this project from the outset, contributing many examples and much wisdom. She has been my sounding board, reality check, and cheerleader throughout.

Chauncey Wilson's encyclopedic knowledge of HCI literature is matched only by his willingness to share it, and I thank him for his help with References section. And our spirited debates on topics like in-room observers have enriched my insights as well as our friendship.

Diane Cerra is the kind of publisher every author should haveencouraging and patient. I think I could almost write another book just for the pleasure of having lunches with Diane.

I was thrilled when Rene Rittiner agreed to do the illustrations. I worked with Rene long ago when we were both software engineers, and his cartoon drawings always made me laugh.

Several people helped make the load lighter: Amy Maurer prepared many of the hand-drawn examples. Hal Shubin contributed two case studies, researching all my picky questions with seemingly unlimited patience. Jakob Nielsen encouraged me from the moment he first heard that I planned to write this book. Ann Marie McKinnon provided valuable guidance in organizing the material. Simo Sde was kind enough to mail me a book from overseas even though we were strangers.

I want to thank the following people who contributed to this book: Michael Albers, Betsy Comstock, Donna Cooper, Diana Demarco, Joe Dumas, Mitchell Gass, Andrew Gigliotti, Stacey Gilligan, Joe Grant, Kristin Grasso, Bob Hanson, Jennifer Harlow, Phillip Hash, Adam Henry, Gareth Hinds, Laura Holly, Ruth Huard, Timo Jokela, Sanna Kaartinen, Robin Kinkead, Jurek Kirakowski, Jussi Koivumaa, Lori Landesman, Samantha Lizak, Cay Lodine, Jennifer Lymneos, Michael Muller, Brent Mundy, M. David Orr, David Pearah, Mary Ann Perry, Rhon Porter, Greg Ralph, Thyra Rauch, Mary Beth Rettger, Susie Robson, Simo Sde, Rich Schaaf, Tony Schaller, Will Schroeder, Hal Shubin, Jason Silver, Rachel Smith, Jared Spool, Joel Spolsky, Ronnie Thomson, Helena Tokkonen, Tom Tullis, Bob Virzi, Neil Wehrle, Scott Weiss, Chauncey Wilson, Drew Wolff, Rosalee Wolfe, Jack Zaientz, Shawn Zhang.

One of my unanticipated frustrations in writing this book was that I ended up with more material than I could possibly use. I recognize the value of many examples and anecdotes that I couldn't fit in, and I thank the contributors for their generosity. For every person whose name appears herein, there are a dozen others who could havemany researchers and practitioners have used and written about methods similar to mine. Thanks to all my colleagues who have taught me about usability and prototyping over the yearsthis is your book too.

True to the spirit of paper prototyping, the first manuscript of this book was full of half-baked ideas. The reviewersBrent Emerson, Ellen Isaacs, Mary Beth Rettger, Terry Roberts, and Chauncey Wilsonprovided a wealth of thought-provoking, detailed, and constructive comments. I learned a great deal from them, and I am grateful (and humbled) to realize how much better the book became as a result of their feedback. I also appreciate the sharp eyes and editorial know-how of Suzanne Kastner during copyediting and production. Naturally, the responsibility for any remaining errors, omissions, and obfuscations rests with me.