My new favorite book is The Design of Sites, Second Edition. It covers just about every topic in User Experience Design. And, of course, it is a totally user-friendly book.
My excitement about ELMER 2: Simplified Form Design (PDF – 1 MB) may be due to my Scandinavian roots. But it is probably more likely attributable to the fact that I am a total geek when it comes to documentation. The Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry has written remarkable guidelines on designing simplified web forms. If I’d had something like this when I started out, it would have been my secret weapon.
This document is a very tight example of design documentation. *begin nerd voice* The guidelines are in a tabular format with cross references and clear examples. It also has a glossary of terms used in the document like “inline error” and “standardized text.”
*/end nerd voice*
And don’t forget, as the document footer says… “In case of discrepency, the Norwegian version prevails.” Yahr!
Here are a couple of my favorite resources on designing information graphics
Information Aesthetics Blog www.infosthetics.com
Fantastic site, regularly updated with inspiring information graphics. Browse by month or category – like charts, graphs, calendars, weather graphics, and so on.
Digital Diagrams by Trevor Bounford
Great collection of beautifully illustrated examples that always gets my mind going. Includes information graphics greats like John Grimwade, and Grundy and Northedge.
User experience books I love:
Designing Interfaces by Jenifer Tidwell
A basic toolkit of interaction patterns with straightforward explanations.
Typographic Elements of Style by Robert Bringhurst
Somewhat advanced tome on type. To get acquainted, flip through it and study the diagrams and examples. I guarantee the presentation of your UX design will improve overnight.
Don’t Make me Think by Steve Krug
Always the first book I recommend to people interested in user centered design basics. Enjoy humorous illustrations about the design process.
About Face by Alan Cooper & Robert Reimann
If you’re an Information Architect (or want to be), but you don’t know who Alan Cooper is – you should. I would recommend any of his books.
