Shop

Ratings & Reviews

• 
  By Jason Zeiber

  Mar 26, 2014
  I design. A while back, I was talking with other designers about how design is, at its core, a form of planning. This one statement framed a whole set of upcoming work and helped conversations with other cross-functional teams. Sure, it seems obvious having said it, but as the kind of observation that emerges after 20+ years of design, it's brief, it's true, it's explainable, it's repeatable, and it's defendable. Delivered in the right context, it could turn a room of critics into ambassadors for your process. I read Robert Hoekman Jr. for exactly this reason. The Tao of User Experience is full of about a hundred of these elusive truths, cutting to the point of each one and written exactly how you'd want it to come out of your mouth during the next design review, board meeting, or planning kickoff. Hoekman has a true talent for boiling down his decades of hard-won design lessons and tenets to a succinct and portable format. If you are designing, Hoekman's compact observations in... More > Taoist-style snippets will quickly become regular inventory in your laptop bag - and will cheer you up daily. If you are looking to understand more about design, shell out the reasonable price for this invaluable handbook of hard-learned design tenets.< Less
  Report as inappropriate
• 
  By francisrowlanduk

  Mar 17, 2014
  Robert Hoekman Jr is someone whose ideas and writing I've explored and benefited from before, so I was really happy to get hold of a copy of this book. I think the most striking thing about it is the format: the very short, focused aphorisms. These boiled-down concepts aren't lightweight, either. I'm taking my time with them but so far, each one gives me something to think about. I actually own a book of Taoist aphorisms, too; something I bought years ago, and this is very similar. Reading Robert's book is a a lot like reading that one. The focused points give me a neat way consider my own work and think about my own ideas concerning user experience design. I expect that is the whole point! It's not about accepting one person's view of user experience design. It's more about considering the author's experience and commentary (and he's been doing this stuff for a while), and then using that as a springboard for your own ideas. That being said, there are a lot of very sound ideas and... More > pieces of advice in here! It's also worth mentioning that, as an active doodler and sketchnoter, I also appreciated having a real book in my hands, and one with lots of space on the pages (thanks to the pithy content!) to add my own notes and comments!< Less
  Report as inappropriate