Nick Finck

Gifts for User Experience Geeks
Dec 12th, 2008

I thought I would put together a very short list of items I have come across that would make the ideal gifts for user experience geeks like Information Architects, Usability Specialists, Interaction Designers, and even Web Designers.  Hope you like it.  If you notice something not on my list let me know and I’ll add it!

Software

• OmniGraffle Professional 5.1 for Mac ($199.95)
• Microsoft Visio Professional 2007 for Windows ($599)
• ProtoShare Web-Based App ($26+/month)
• iRise Professional for Windows ($6,995)
• Axure RP Pro 5.1 for Windows ($589)
• Silverback for Mac ($49.95)
• Morae 3 for Windows ($1,495)
• Camtasia Studio for Windows ($299)
• Snagit for Windows ($49.95)
• Adobe Fireworks CS4 for Mac & Windows ($299)
• IconFactory xScope for Mac ($26.95)

Software Add-Ons

• Michael Angeles’s Wireframe Palette for Omnigraffle (free!)
• Garrett Dimon’s Templates & Stencils for Visio & Omnigraffle (free!)
• Yahoo! Pattern Library Stencils for Visio, Omnigraffle, & more (free!)
• Jesse James Garrett’s A visual vocabulary for Visio, Omnigraffle, & more (free!)
• iPhone Wire Frames for web-based iPhone apps for OmniGraffle (free!)
• Ultimate iPhone Stencil for native iPhone apps for OmniGraffle (free!)

Tangible Gifts

• Konigi Information Architecture Notepads ($7.50 each)
• GUI Magnets (€20 each)
• IDEO Method Cards ($49.00)
• nForm UX Trading Cards (Priceless / only available at the IA Summit)
• Action Method Paper Products ($5-$15)

Clothing

• UXWear T-Shirt ($18.95)
• Viva Jakob T-shirt ($25)
• Usabilitees T-shirts ($21.25-$23.25)

Events & Associations

• Membership to the Information Architecture Institute ($20-40)
• Tickets to the IA Summit 2009 in Memphis, TN, USA (estimated at $305-$680)
• Tickets to the IxDA Conference 2009 in Vancouver, BC Canada ($399-$699)

Books

• Mental Models: Aligning design strategy with human behavior by Indi Young ($36.00)
• Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks by Luke Wroblewski ($36.00)
• Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites (3rd edition) by Peter Morville & Louis Rosenfeld ($26.39)
• Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning by Dan Brown ($29.69)
• Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web by Christina Wodtke ($26.39)
• Information Architecture for Designers by Peter Van Dijck ($60.56)
• Designing Interactions by Bill Moggridge ($28.35)
• Sketching User Experiences by Bill Buxton ($32.97)
• The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web by Jesse James Garrett ($23.09)
• Designing for Interactions by Dan Saffer ($29.70)
• Designing Interfaces by Jenifer Tidwell ($32.97)
• Designing the Obvious: A Common Sense Approach to Web Application Design by Robert Hoekman Jr. ($26.39)