ACM Insurance Programs

www.acm.org/membership/insurance

ACM’s Insurance Programs Offer Members Great Value!

ACM offers association-sponsored insurance programs in a variety of important areas. These plans are endorsed by ACM because they offer flexibility and solid protection. Please check the ACM Insurance Program Site www.acm.org/membership/insurance for plan details and updated information.

November + December 2009

Marsh Affinity Group Services Administered Plans, a Service of Seabury and Smith:

Life Insurance

• Group Term

• Group 10-Year Term

• Group 20-Year Term

Health Care

• Major Medical

• Short Term Medical

• Catastrophe Major Medical

Group Dental Insurance

Accidental Death & Dismemberment Long Term Care

Disability Income

Liberty Mutual Administered Plans:

• Group Savings Plus® Auto and Homeowners Insurance

www.acm.org/membership/insurance

interactions

Centered Products and Services. In trying to live up to her subtitle, Goodwin has given us the closest thing so far to a book you could use to teach and guide the practice of professional product design.

Goodwin writes from a practitioner’s perspective, having worked at the interaction design consultancy Cooper for 11 years. The book is thoroughly influenced by the practices and point of view at Cooper. While it showcases a strong sense of Cooper’s approach, the book also presents the recommendations and examples of the weight of seasoned credibility. They are drawn from real experience, repeated across many projects in many domains, executed by many teams. This stuff works, at least at Cooper, which means it is likely that readers will be able to adapt its recommendations to their own practice.

Experienced professionals are likely to substitute their favorite method or approach here and there, preferring to do some aspects of the work in their own way. Goodwin’s tone is confident but not dogmatic—just right for guiding young professionals and providing a useful kit for seasoned people to draw from.

Designing for the Digital Age is ambitious in its broad and thorough coverage of the work of interactive product design. It begins with “assembling the team,” then covers an integrated sequence of activities and working deliverables that move the team from first steps to production and launch. Each step along the way, the text provides clear and authoritative instruction in a pleasantly professional tone, with plentiful figures that don’t just illustrate, they help.

Goodwin recognizes the multidisciplinary nature of product and service design. It is one of a very few books that suggests how to coordinate the work of interaction designers, industrial designers, developers, team leadership, and project stakeholders. She also recognizes that the work of design and product creation is fundamentally social. To be successful, it is not enough to “be a good designer,” to know a lot about interfaces, or to have a multidisciplinary approach. The work requires explicit attention to the social dynamics of the team, as well as the wider organization that supports the work. A book that covers such aspects is refreshing.

Designing for the Digital Age offers the best integration of trustworthy voice, practical content, clear communication, and integrated point of view we’ve seen to date. Quite simply, it is useful.