I’m very pleased to announce that I have a new O’Reilly book coming out in May 2013 called Microinteractions: Detail-driven Product Design. What’s it about and what are microinteractions? Well, I’ll tell you.

“The details are not the details. They make the design.” Charles Eames

The difference between a good product and a great one are its details: the microinteractions that make up the small moments inside and around features. How do you turn mute on? How do you know you have a new email message? How can you change a setting? All these little moments—which are typically not on any feature list and often ignored—can change a product from one that is tolerated to one that’s beloved. They are the feel part of “look and feel.”

The book provides a new way of thinking about designing digital products: as a series of microinteractions that are essential to bringing personality and delight to applications and devices.

Microinteractions are single- or few-use-case engagements that are either on the edge of a product or contained within a bigger feature. You engage with microinteractions every time you log in, pick a password, favorite or like an item, or set a status message.

Microinteractions are made up of five parts: triggers, controls and affordances, the interaction rules, feedback, and states/modes/loops. Each part gets its own chapter, as does the overall Microinteractions Model.

Now all that’s left to do is write it!

The website is going up soon, and it’ll eventually contain excerpts and book news. Stay tuned.