Do you Hackers have some advice for my nonhacking self? Here is a list of some of the books I've already read, I haven't delved into UI yet.
http://www.shelfari.com/o1517988867/shelf<p>Thanks HackerNewsCommunity, and I hope I didn't break any rules when I put that link to my bookshelf.
I've done a little bit of consulting on interface design - even managed to have a site we did mentioned by Jakob Nielsen in a list of ten greatest redesigns. My take on UI is that it's not about reading books but all about people. Which is probably why a lot of programmers are terrible at UI (not meaning to hurt anyone here, just stating my opinion...) Here is how I work:<p>1) I constantly ask "will my mother understand this". If the answer is no simplify it. And my mother doesn't know that a page can be resized...<p>2) It's all about consistency. Links, textboxes, etc. should be the same across the site.<p>3) Hallway usability testing. make simple HTML mock-ups and watch a few people play with them - preferably your moms friends. This will tell you a lot about where the cranks are.<p>4) Stick to standards. Don't get all fancy and make your text fields arty and bleeding edge just because you can: your mom won't understand it.<p>5) Don't use flash unless you really really need to.<p>But the most important thing you can do to get better at user interfaces is to go to the local coffeshop, find a nice girl, chat her up, start talking about computers and realise how little she actually knows about how things work. There's a fair chance she might not even know what a browser is. Do this a few times - the experience is enlightening. Besides you'll get out and have a good time with some girls that think you're really smart :-)
Don't Make Me Think<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/0321344758/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220625482&sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/032134...</a>
I think the Tufte books are deep enough background that they might be useful to execs. Philosophy rather than UI specifics.<p><a href="http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/" rel="nofollow">http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/</a>
In my experience? Make sure to read this <i>one</i>, <i>ancient</i> Jakob Nielsen article:<p>"Why You Only Need to Test With Five Users"
(<a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000319.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000319.html</a>)<p>The biggest problem I've seen so far isn't necessarily that clients and programmers have no taste, or no idea what makes a good UI. It's that we spend so much time bikeshedding, sketching and resketching UI ideas in meetings, trying to impress each other with our ability to divine what is going on in the head of an imaginary customer. All the while avoiding the task of observing any actual customers!
If you're short on time:
<a href="http://joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000057.html" rel="nofollow">http://joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000057.html</a><p>Spolsky's work is light and easy to read. This work is geared towards "progammers", although that is not mutually exclusive with the word "CEO". It'll help you avoid more obvious mistakes. Nielson and About Face are more thorough. I haven't read Don't Make Me Think but I've heard good things (and lots of comments here, so obviously I should read that one...)
"The Non-Designers Design Book" by Robin Williams.<p>It was written without the web in mind. It's mostly about typography and spacing for posters, business cards, flyers, etc. But it translates suprisingly well to web design.<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Non-Designers-Design-Book-Robin-Williams/dp/0321534042/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220627590&sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Non-Designers-Design-Book-Robin-Willia...</a>
Often, Interaction Design gets lumped in with Interface Design (or simply overlooked). For this I suggest:<p>"Submit Now: Designing Persuasive Web Sites" by Andrew Chak (2003)<p>• Similar to "Don't Make me Think", but focuses more on personal interaction & choices more than layout.<p>"Defensive Design for the Web: How to improve error messages, help, forms, and other crisis points" by 37 Signals (2004)<p>• Error management (not just 404s) is one of the most overlooked UI portions of a web project and are often left up to the developers to "figure out".<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Submit-Now-Designing-Persuasive-VOICES/dp/0735711704/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220633479&sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Submit-Now-Designing-Persuasive-VOICES...</a><p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Defensive-Design-Web-improve-messages/dp/073571410X/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220633462&sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Defensive-Design-Web-improve-messages/...</a>
I would go with just these Jackob Nielsen's articles:<p><a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/tabs.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.useit.com/alertbox/tabs.html</a><p><a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/screen_resolution.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.useit.com/alertbox/screen_resolution.html</a><p><a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html</a><p><a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/sales_cycle.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.useit.com/alertbox/sales_cycle.html</a><p><a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/wysiwyg.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.useit.com/alertbox/wysiwyg.html</a><p><a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/designmistakes.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.useit.com/alertbox/designmistakes.html</a><p><a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990321.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990321.html</a>
The Phaidon Design Classics, although they are not specifically about web interface design, are AWESOME. <a href="http://www.phaidon.com/designclassics/" rel="nofollow">http://www.phaidon.com/designclassics/</a> They are great to look over for inspiration and to see examples of products that really pushed the envelope of design forward. BTW, if you shelled out for the box set you would score major brownie points with the CEO ;) as they are very accessible to people who aren't actually doing the grunt/brain work of design.<p>More along the lines of computing, Rules of Play: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/554oj5" rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/554oj5</a> is a great read. Probably not what you'd want to give your CEO, though. Very inspiring and thoughtful writing.
Since Don't Make Me Think already came up, going to add
About Face (have 2.0 but heard 3.0 is even better)
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/About-Face-Essentials-Interaction-Design/dp/0470084111/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220626879&sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/About-Face-Essentials-Interaction-Desi...</a><p>and Design of Everyday Things
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/dp/0465067107/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220626908&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/d...</a>
I did a course at University called <i>Human Computer Interaction</i>. Essentially it was the science of user interfaces. The course book of the same name by Dix, Finlay, Abowd and Beale (3rd edition) was really good. It contained a lot of accessible theory and plenty of heuristics too that you can implement straight away. Highly recommended.<p><a href="http://www.hcibook.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.hcibook.com/</a><p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Human-Computer-Interaction-3rd-Alan-Dix/dp/0130461091" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Human-Computer-Interaction-3rd-Alan-Di...</a>
The LAST thing you want is your CEO and fellow developers doing is reading a book on good UI design. Do yourself a favor and consult an expert in the field (designer) and leave the CEO/developers to do things that they're actually good at (like promote the company and code)
The Design Of Everyday Things (mentioned above as well) is one of my favourite design books.<p>But will reading books help? What is your intent in suggesting such books to them?
it's specific to certain types of displays, but Information Dashboard Design is pretty solid. not great for getting customers in, but excellent for internal reporting and tracking. these things make ceo's happy. (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596100167?ie=UTF8&tag=httpsomethico-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0596100167" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596100167?ie=UTF8&tag=...</a>)