Designing And Engineering Time

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. informit.com/aw

Embedded software is in almost every electronic device in use today. There is software hidden away inside our watches, DVD players, mobile phones, antilock brakes, and even a few toasters. The military uses embedded software to guide missiles, detect enemy aircraft, and pilot UAVs. Communication satellites, deep-space probes, and many medical instruments would‟ve been nearly impossible to create without it. Someone has to write all that software, and there are tens of thousands of electrical engineers, computer scientists, and other professionals who actually do.

Written for introductory courses in engineering design, this text illustrates conceptual design methods and project management tools through descriptions, examples, and case studies.

As its name implies, the aim of Systems Design and Engineering: Facilitating Multidisciplinary Development Projects is to help systems engineers develop the skills and thought processes needed to successfully develop and implement engineered systems. Such expertise typically does not come through study but from action, hard work, and cooperation. To that end, the authors have chosen a "hands-on" approach for presenting material rather than concentrating on theory, as so often is the case in a classroom setting. This attractive and accessible text is a mix of theory and practical approach, illustrated with examples that have enough richness and variability to hold your attention. Models are presented for controlling the design, change, and engineering processes. Various aspects of systems engineering and methods providing the big picture at system level are discussed. In some ways, you can think of the book as a compact "starter’s kit" for systems engineers. Although the authors are recognized experts in academic settings, they attribute much of their success in systems engineering to their own hands-on experiences and want to show you how to achieve that same level of expertise. Simply reading this book or any other book will not suffice for the learning process to become a systems engineer - no book will do that. However, by following the principles laid out in this book, you can develop the necessary skills and expertise to help you start an interesting, challenging, and rewarding career as a systems engineer.

Author Keith L. Richards believes that design engineers spend only a small fraction of time actually designing and drawing, and the remainder of their time finding relevant design information for a specific method or problem. He draws on his own experience as a mechanical engineering designer to offer assistance to other practicing and student engi

Today, software engineers need to know not only how to program effectively but also how to develop proper engineering practices to make their codebase sustainable and healthy. This book emphasizes this difference between programming and software engineering. How can software engineers manage a living codebase that evolves and responds to changing requirements and demands over the length of its life? Based on their experience at Google, software engineers Titus Winters and Hyrum Wright, along with technical writer Tom Manshreck, present a candid and insightful look at how some of the world’s leading practitioners construct and maintain software. This book covers Google’s unique engineering culture, processes, and tools and how these aspects contribute to the effectiveness of an engineering organization. You’ll explore three fundamental principles that software organizations should keep in mind when designing, architecting, writing, and maintaining code: How time affects the sustainability of software and how to make your code resilient over time How scale affects the viability of software practices within an engineering organization What trade-offs a typical engineer needs to make when evaluating design and development decisions

A new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.