With a foreword by design guru Don Norman.Humans make things every day, whether it’s composing an e-mail, cooking a meal, or constructing the Mars Rover. While complexity is often necessary in the development process, unnecessary complexity adds complications. The Simplicity Cycle provides the secret to striking the proper balance. Dan Ward shines a light on how complexity affects the things we make for good or ill, taking us on a journey through the process of making things, with a particular focus on identifying and avoiding complexity-related pitfalls.The standard development process involves increasing complexity to improve the outcome, Ward explains. The problem comes when the complexity starts getting in the way—but often we don’t know where that point is until we pass it. He suggests a number of techniques for identifying the problem and fixing it, including how to overcome several types of wrongheaded thinking—such as the idea that complexity and quality are the same. In clear, compelling language, and using his trademark mix of examples from research, personal experience, and pop culture, Ward offers a universal concept, visually described with a single, evolving diagram.Ideal for business leaders and technologists, The Simplicity Cycle is helpful for anyone looking to simplify and improve everything we do, whether we work in an office, at home, or at the Pentagon.

     You'll cover a wide range of topics over nine highly readable chapters, with each one acting as a mini crash course. By the end, you'll have been introduced to the key concepts, best practices, and guidelines in areas such as: - User Experience (UX) Design - Design Thinking - Usability - User Research - Interaction Design - Mobile Web Design - Information Visualization Whether you're looking to embark on a new career in the field of UX design, are trying to boost your current skill-set, or are simply interested in learning more about the topic, then this short ebook is the perfect place to start your journey! You can find out more about the Interaction Design Foundation at interaction-design.org. As an independent, nonprofit initiative, we are constantly striving to make design education as accessible and affordable as possible, no matter where you are in the world.

    

    Craddock and afterword by the author, Eugene L. Lowry, The Homiletical Plot, Expanded Edition follows in the same solid tradition of its predecessor. Upon its release, The Homiletical Plot quickly became a pivotal work on the art of preaching. Instead of comments on a biblical passage, Lowry suggested that the sermon follow a narrative form that moves from beginning to end, as with the plot of a story. This expanded edition continues to be an excellent teaching resource and learning tool for all preachers from introductory students to seasoned clergy.

    The Wind Rises is Miyazaki’s love letter to the power of flight and the imagination, an examination of the rise of Japan’s military might in the years leading up to the Second World War, and a call for worldwide peace and harmony in the face of destruction. This book captures the art of the film, from conception to production, and features in-depth interviews with the filmmakers.

    It will feature the best sports writing from the website, delivered in a full-color book featuring original artwork and a host of print exclusives—including original fiction, new writing from editor-in-chief Bill Simmons, posters and pull-out sections, old-school baseball cards and mini-booklets, and a cover that looks and feels like you're holding a basketball. Like its namesake website, Grantland Quarterly will regularly include some of the most exciting and form-pushing sports writers currently plying the trade, including Chuck Klosterman, Malcolm Gladwell, Tom Bissell, Harris Wittels, John Brandon, Anna Clark, Chris Jones, Colson Whitehead, and many more.

    Using 28 of the best designed homes from around the country, Susanka brings these concepts to life with 150 powerful and inspirational examples: from something as simple as placing a rug under a table to renovating a whole second floor. Home by Design shows homeowners a new way to look at their spaces and provides ideas for how to make each home reach its full potential.

    Like an Art of War for design, this slim volume contains guidance, inspiration, and reassurance for all those who labor with the user in mind. If you work on the web, in print, or in film or video, this book can help. If you know someone working on the creative arena, this makes a great gift. Funny, too.Look for fresh aphorisms on our Facebook page.

    Multi-tiered object-oriented platforms, such as Java and .NET, have become commonplace. These new tools and technologies are capable of building powerful applications, but they are not easily implemented. Common failures in enterprise applications often occur because their developers do not understand the architectural lessons that experienced object developers have learned. Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture is written in direct response to the stiff challenges that face enterprise application developers. The author, noted object-oriented designer Martin Fowler, noticed that despite changes in technology--from Smalltalk to CORBA to Java to .NET--the same basic design ideas can be adapted and applied to solve common problems. With the help of an expert group of contributors, Martin distills over forty recurring solutions into patterns. The result is an indispensable handbook of solutions that are applicable to any enterprise application platform. This book is actually two books in one. The first section is a short tutorial on developing enterprise applications, which you can read from start to finish to understand the scope of the book's lessons. The next section, the bulk of the book, is a detailed reference to the patterns themselves. Each pattern provides usage and implementation information, as well as detailed code examples in Java or C#. The entire book is also richly illustrated with UML diagrams to further explain the concepts. Armed with this book, you will have the knowledge necessary to make important architectural decisions about building an enterprise application and the proven patterns for use when building them. The topics covered include - Dividing an enterprise application into layers - The major approaches to organizing business logic - An in-depth treatment of mapping between objects and relational databases - Using Model-View-Controller to organize a Web presentation - Handling concurrency for data that spans multiple transactions - Designing distributed object interfaces

    Back in the days, gangs would battle not with guns, but by breakdancing. Back in the days, the streets-not corporate planning-set the standards for style. Back in the days, Jamel Shabazz was on the scene, photographing everyday people hangin' in Harlem, kickin' it in Queens, and cold chillin' in Brooklyn. Street styling with an attitude not seen in fashion for another twenty years to come, Shabazz's subjects strike poses that put supermodels to shame-showing off Kangol caps and Gazelle glasses, shell-top Adidas and suede Pumas with fat laces, shearling coats and leather jackets, gold rope chains, door-knocker earrings, name belts, boom boxes, and other designer finery. For anyone who wants to know what "keepin' it real" means, Back in the Days is the book of your dreams.

    It helps us distinguish many faces of truth, empowering a sense of judgement and it increases the power of positive thinking. Anxiety and skepticism when reign high, the disillusioned society needs to be resuscitated with morale, confidence and trust.

    Sure, they cover the basics. But The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design goes way beyond the basics. The authors, top game designers, focus on creating games that are an involving, emotional experience for the gamer. Topics include integrating story into the game, writing the game script, putting together the game bible, creating the design document, and working on original intellectual property versus working with licenses. Finally, there’s complete information on how to present a visionary new idea to developers and publishers. Got game? Get The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design.

    A picture really can tell a thousand words. Visualization is a crucial part of the journey for companies seeking to boost enterprise agility, break down silos and increase employee and customer engage­ment. Visualizing thought processes can help break down complex problems. It empowers teams and staff to build on one another's ideas, fosters collaboration, jump-starts co-creation and boosts innovation.This book will help brush aside misconcepti­ons that may have prevented you using these techniques in your workplace. You don't need Van Gogh's artistic talent or Einstein's intelli­gence to harness the power of visual thinking and make your company more successful.With the right mindset and the simple skills this book provides you the skills to develop your own signature and style and start gene­rating change by integrating visual communi­cation into your business setting.

     She’s a pawn in our twisted game. Caught between two killers. And we each have VERY different ideas on how to use her. She’s better off with me than she is with the sadistic scum who owns her. But that’s not saying much. Because I’m a killer and a beast. And when this beautiful prey falls in my path, You can be damn sure I’m going to devour her. After I’d had my fill, I thought I’d just throw her aside and get back to what I was doing: Putting a bullet in her drug lord owner. But I didn’t go through with it. There’s something different about this one. She’s special. Fragile. Worth protecting. And if she wants to survive this hellhole, she’ll have to recognize the truth – That I’m the only one who can keep her alive. She might not care about herself anymore. But there’s someone else whose life is worth saving… The life of the baby I put in her womb. I never thought I’d say these words. But if any man lays a finger on my little angels… I’ll kill him where he stands. DON’T HURT MY BABY is a standalone contemporary bad boy baby heist romance. It's hot, exciting, safe, and of course comes with a perfect HEA. It also includes bonus novels so you never have to stop reading!

    Lots of them.I didn’t expect a marriage proposal…The day I became a Captain with the Federation Star Fleet, I dedicated my life to fighting the bad guys. Everything was going well, until I crashed our starship into his crummy planet. Now, he wants to marry me. He actually thinks I was sent from the stars. I’ve never heard of an alien who gives back rubs. But I'm willing to try anything if it means getting off this planet.Marriage with an alien warrior was not on my bucket list of things to do. He tells me he wants to breed me. But there's more to him than his muscle-bound exterior and devilishly handsome smirk. Little by little, he opens up.He makes my heart swell. I feel for him...And then he takes the next step to feel me.Sensing immediate danger in the region, he gives me his protection, but he's packing more than heat. A quick taste of pleasure, combined with a heavy touch, and I'm ready for more.I've never been touched by an alien. But I think I like it.This is not a test. This is my new twisted reality.