People expect effortless, engaging interaction with desktop and web applications, but producing software that generates enjoyable user experiences is much harder than many companies anticipate. With Effective UI, you'll learn proven user-experience strategies that will satisfy your clients and customers, drive business value, and increase brand strength. This book shows you how to capture the collaborative and cooperative spirit among designers, engineers, and management required for building engaging software. You'll also learn valuable methods for maintaining focus throughout the process -- whether you're a product manager who needs a clear roadmap, a developer or designer looking for guidance and advocacy, or a businessperson who wants to understand and manage user-experience software initiatives. Learn how to build software that will: Generate engaging and interactive experiences between consumers and businesses, or between businesspeople and their information systems Account for how people work with, think about, and consume information Establish a richer means of collaboration and communication Reduce frustration by streamlining complex tasks and creating processes that are more intuitive Distinguish products, services, and brands to create a competitive advantage Create scalable systems that adapt to changing user needs and behaviors