Very relevant and practical information on a user-centered approach to building software applications is presented in this book, in the form of a practical advice list. The author concentrates on user experience (UX) design focused on applications usability. UX nowadays is increasingly becoming a hot topic. It is often simplified to just visual user interface design. However, UX encompasses all aspects of the end user’s interaction with an application, product, or service. Emrah Yayici warns readers on the second page of the book not to simplify UX. However, his book presents all topics in a very simplified manner. He does not explain the key term of the book--user experience--properly; likewise, he does not sufficiently explain other concepts presented.

It is clear that the author has much experience in the field of usable software applications design. The book contains many really practical points. Even though none of the presented points was a surprise for me, I like how the author compiled them in the form of useful advice. The book is divided into 13 short chapters, most of them three to four pages long, structured around briefly commented points on defining UX design roles and responsibilities, usability principles and guidelines, mobile UX design, requirement engineering for usability, usability testing, user-centered business analysis, benefits of user studies, and user-centered processes comparing waterfall and agile approaches. The book is very easy to read.

In spite of the practical and topical content, I was confused by this book. On the one hand, it contains useful experience. I also liked the many fitting quotations. On the other hand, the intended audience is unclear. Experienced readers will not gain much new knowledge. Moreover, they may be annoyed by the oversimplification of particular points. For example, I do not agree with the statement that “eye-tracking should be combined with users’ think-aloud”; even though think-aloud is a useful technique, it distracts the user from accomplishing a task, especially considering complex tasks. So often, instead of think-aloud, just the retrospection is used.

The inexperienced reader will be delighted with the practical and easily comprehensible advice, but can be misled by oversimplification. The book is full of statements without proper explanations and references. In fact, this is the first book I have read that does not include any resources on which the author based the content or for further reading. Real business includes context and requires a deep understanding of principles; a list of them does not suffice. I wonder how a novice in the field will be able to use the given advice in real life. Nevertheless, keeping this warning in mind, the book can be useful as supplementary reading or as a summarizing experience for important and interesting topics related to user experience and usability in particular. For novices, the book provides a set of guidelines; for experts, it provides a summary or a confirmation of known views.

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