 | American Psychological Association | |
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 | Usability Professionals Association | |
 | Human Factors & Ergonomics Society | |
Web Site Design & Web Site Usability BooksThe books described here are relevant to Human Factors Design and are available from Amazon. Please let us know if you would like to suggest additional titles.
Our RoleUsernomics can assist your company in making your products easy to learn, easy to use, aesthetically pleasing, and marketable. Our User Interface Design and Usability Testing professionals design both hardware and software products. Their experience covers a wide range of products including web-based and application software, consumer products, communication systems, and vehicles such as automobiles and aircraft.
We can also assist your company to make your workplace safe, efficient, and in compliance. Our Ergonomics Engineers apply a rigorous and systematic technique to ensure a hazard-free and worker-safe environment. We evaluate, design, and train your people to create an ongoing active safety program in your company. Our experience covers a wide range of workplace environments including the office, manufacturing floor, warehouse, and vehicles.
Because of overlapping subject matter, some books may be represented more than once. The books listed here are roughly divided into the following categories:
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Titles A to P Web Site Design Books
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by Sarah Horton
July 12, 2005
In just over a decade, the Web has evolved from an experimental tool for a limited community of technically inclined people into a day-to-day necessity for millions upon millions of users. Today's Web designers must consider not only the content needs of the sites they create, but also the wide range of additional needs their users may have: for example, those with physical or cognitive disabilities, those with slow modems or small screens, and those with limited education or familiarity with the Web. Bestselling author Sarah Horton argues that simply meeting the official standards and guidelines for Web accessibility is not enough. Her goal is universal usability, and in Access by Design: A Guide to Universal Usability for Web Designers, Sarah describes a design methodology that addresses accessibility requirements but then goes beyond. As a result, designers learn how to optimize page designs to work more effectively for more users, disabled or not. Working through each of the main functional features of Web sites, she provides clear principles for using HTML and CSS to deal with elements such as text, forms, images, and tables, illustrating each with an example drawn from the real world. Through these guidelines, Sarah makes a convincing case that good design principles benefit all users of the Web.
by Gary Moulton, LaDeana Huyler, Janice Hertz, Mark Levenson
May 1, 2002
Microsoft is dedicated to developing technology that is useable and accessible to all. In ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY IN TODAY'S BUSINESS, business managers discover how to utilize the built-in accessibility features in Microsoft products to meet the needs and preferences of people with disabilities. The book identifies the assistive technology features in Microsoft software that can be used to accommodate specific impairments, including vision, hearing, and mobility. Case studies illuminate Microsoft accessibility solutions in action, in real-world work settings.
by John Yunker
August 22, 2002
Companies know that globalizing their web sites will produce exponential revenue growth - Web Globalization Strategies: Beyond Borders tells web developers how to do it. By 2003, the US will account for less than one-third of the worldwide Internet user-base of 602 million. This book illustrates step-by-step measures to take to globalize any web site for almost any country in the world, while presenting spotlights on real companies who have globalized their sites and the benefits they've received. Most executives know they want to reach a global market but have no idea what obstacles they face. The web globalization process is complex, constantly evolving, and the languages themselves can be highly intimidating. This book will provide the reader with the understanding and "best practices" necessary to successfully manage a Web globalization strategy. Crammed with useful facts, tips, and ideas, this book will offer step-by-step advance on every aspect of web development, both technical and non-technical. Offers practical, in-depth information on such hard-to-research topics as online revenue models, online marketing options, site traffic analyses, usability testing, community building, legal issues, cost projections, and project management.
Dan Cederholm
July 28, 2005
No matter how visually appealing or packed with content your Web site is, it isn't succeeding if it's not reaching the widest possible audience. If you get this guide, you can be assured it will! By deconstructing a series of real-world Web sites, author and Web designer extraordinaire Dan Cederholm outlines 10 strategies for creating standards-based designs that provide flexibility, readability, and user control-key components of every successful Web site. Each chapter starts out with an example of what Dan refers to as an "unbulletproof" concept-an existing site that employs a traditional approach and its associated pitfalls. Dan then deconstructs that approach, noting its downsides and then making the site over using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). By the end of each chapter, you'll have replaced traditional, bloated, inaccessible page components with lean markup and CSS. The guide culminates with a chapter that pieces together all of the page components discussed in prior chapters into a single page template.
Bryan Eisenberg, Jeffery Eisenberg, Jeffrey Eisenberg
May 9, 2005
Having made a living on the Internet for the past 7 years basically flying by the "seat of my pants", I found Bryan's book a absolute goldmine of information. Call to Action is a straight forward, no nonsense, no "fluff" book covering the do's and don't's of website design and marketing. The book is written to be easily understood. I have already adopted many of Bryan's points into my own website design and have seen almost immediate results. I doubt if there is a better book on the subject.
by Alliance for Technology Access, Alliance for Technology Access
March 1, 2000
This newly expanded book describes how to make use of conventional and assistive technologies, and explains how to determine needs. An indispensable resource guide, it lists funding sources, government programs, publications, and technology vendors.
by Jim Thatcher, Cynthia Waddell, Shawn Henry, Sarah Swierenga, Mark Urban, Michael Burks, Bob Regan, Paul Bohman
April 2002
Accessibility is about making web sites that do not exclude people with visual, aural, or physical disabilities. This book will enable web professionals to create or retrofit accessible web sites quickly and easily. It is a practical book; the accessibility techniques outlined within are illustrated with real world examples from live sites, demonstrating that accessibility is not the enemy of great visual design.
by Andy Beaumont, Dave Gibbons, Jody Kerr, Jon Stephens
March 1, 2002
When developing a web site, one of the most important things to consider is the navigation menu, to allow your users to find their way around it. It needs to usable, informative, and well implemented, but this can take time. This book will take all the hassle out of implementing web menus, in whatever style and technology you wish, by providing full code samples, along with walkthrough tutorials on how they work to allow easy customization for your own needs.
Randolph G. Bias, Deborah J. Mayhew
March 25, 2005
The second edition is a fresh and important contribution to the growing literature on HCI management--it will certainly be influential. This book will satisfy the desires of those who want evidence that usability investments have high payoffs--it also provides wise guidance about how and what to measure to demonstrate the ROI from usability projects. Thorough & thoughtful, practical & actionable; readers will be able to put the ideas to work immediately.
by Ellen Isaacs, Alan Walendowski
December 10, 2001
Written from the perspectives of both a user interface designer and a software engineer, this book demonstrates rather than just describes how to build technology that cooperates with people. It begins with a set of interaction design principles that apply to a broad range of technology, illustrating with examples from the Web, desktop software, cell phones, PDAs, cameras, voice menus, interactive TV, and more. It goes on to show how these principles are applied in practice during the development process -- when the ideal design can conflict with other engineering goals. The authors demonstrate how their team built a full-featured instant messenger application for the wireless Palm and PC. Through this realistic example, they describe the many subtle tradeoffs that arise between design and engineering goals. Through simulated conversations, they show how they came to understand each other's goals and constraints and found solutions that addressed both of their needs -- and ultimately the needs of users who just want their technology to work.
Jeff Cogswell
February 12, 2004
If you're looking for a book on general software design, this book won't help you much. This book is about creating usable software, not software in general. It's very hard to pinpoint what makes something usable, but Jeff does an outstanding job. I liked the fact that he often augmented a technical lesson using stories that make learning the details fun. The manner of presentation is interesting because Jeff doesn't rely on just one technique to present the information. The details are often illustrated using several methods, so it's easier to understand precisely what Jeff means. Unlike many theory type books, this one has source code examples--something that every developer can relate to.
by Kevin Mullet, Darrell Sano
December 5, 1994
Ironically, many designers of graphical user interfaces are not always aware of the fundamental design rules and techniques that are applied routinely by other practitioners of communication-oriented visual design -- techniques that can be used to enhance the visual quality of GUIs, data displays, and multimedia documents. This volume focuses on design rules and techniques that are drawn from the rational, functionalist design aesthetic seen in modern graphic design, industrial design, interior design, and architecture -- and applies them to various graphical user interface problems experienced in commercial software development. Describes the basic design principles (the what and why), common errors, and practical step-by-step techniques (the how) in each of six major areas: elegance and simplicity; scale, contrast, and proportion; organization and visual structure; module and program; image and representation; and style. Focuses on techniques that will not only improve the aesthetics of the visual display, but, because they promote visual organization, clarity, and conciseness, will also enhance the usability of the product. Includes a catalog of common errors drawn from existing GUI applications and environments to illustrate practices that should be avoided in developing applications. For anyone responsible for designing, specifying, implementing, documenting, or managing the visual appearance of computer-based information displays.
Jeffrey Zeldman
May 14, 2003
You code. And code. And code. You build only to rebuild. You focus on making your site compatible with almost every browser or wireless device ever put out there. Then along comes a new device or a new browser, and you start all over again. You can get off the merry-go-round. It's time to stop living in the past and get away from the days of spaghetti code, insanely nested table layouts, tags, and other redundancies that double and triple the bandwidth of even the simplest sites. Instead, it's time for forward compatibility. Isn't it high time you started designing with web standards? Standards aren't about leaving users behind or adhering to inflexible rules. Standards are about building sophisticated, beautiful sites that will work as well tomorrow as they do today. You can't afford to design tomorrow's sites with yesterday's piecemeal methods.
by Jakob Nielsen
November 1, 1999
Users experience the usability of a web site before they have committed to using it and before making any purchase decisions. The web is the ultimate environment for empowerment, and he or she who clicks the mouse decides everything. Designing Web Usability is the definitive guide to usability from Jakob Nielsen, the world's leading authority. Over 250,000 Internet professionals around the world have turned to this landmark book, in which Nielsen shares the full weight of his wisdom and experience. From content and page design to designing for ease of navigation and users with disabilities, he delivers complete direction on how to connect with any web user, in any situation. Nielsen has arrived at a series of principles that work in support of his findings: 1. That web users want to find what they're after quickly; 2. If they don't know what they're after, they nevertheless want to browse quickly and access information they come across in a logical manner. This book is a must-have for anyone who thinks seriously about the web.
by Dr. International
October 9, 2002
This comprehensive guide helps developers, testers and product designers write internationally-compliant, global code that is Microsoft Logo Certifiable for Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The handbook teaches users how to localize Windows-based applications more easily and less expensively, determine important culture-specific issues, avoid international information pitfalls and legal issues, and much more. It covers all of the essentials for developing international software-and it's delivered by the collective experience of the Windows International group.
James R. Williams, CRC Press
May 26, 2004
The author presents an integrated performance support systems approach for increasing the usability and learnability of computer systems, providing planning, design, and development guidance for designers, developers, and managers involved in performance support for users. Primarily addressing the development of performance support for large software systems such as business information systems, he describes different types of design environments and strategies; discusses the estimation of resource requirements; explores the performance of needs assessment and task analysis; examines information presentation, media selection, and accessibility issues; and provides a method for testing performance support products.
by Steve Krug
October 13, 2000
People won't use your web site if they can't find their way around it. Whether you call it usability, ease-of-use, or just good design, companies staking their fortunes and their futures on their Web sites are starting to recognize that it's a bottom-line issue. In Don't Make Me Think, usability expert Steve Krug distills his years of experience and observation into clear, practical--and often amusing--common sense advice for the people in the trenches (the designers, programmers, writers, editors, and Webmasters), the people who tell them what to do (project managers, business planners, and marketing people), and even the people who sign the checks. Krug's clearly explained, easily absorbed principles will help you sleep better at night knowing that all the hard work going into your site is producing something that people will actually want to use.
by Justine Cassell, Joseph Sullivan, Scott Prevost, Elizabeth Churchill
April 3, 2000
Embodied conversational agents are computer-generated cartoon-like characters that demonstrate many of the same properties as humans in face-to-face conversation, including the ability to produce and respond to verbal and nonverbal communication. They constitute a type of (a) multimodal interface where the modalities are those natural to human conversation: speech, facial displays, hand gestures and body stance; (b) software agent, insofar as they represent the computer in an interaction with a human or represent their human users in a computational environment (as avatars, for example); and (c) dialogue system where both verbal and nonverbal devices advance and regulate the dialogue between the user and the computer. With an embodied conversational agent, the visual dimension of interacting with an animated character on a screen plays an intrinsic role. Not just pretty pictures, the graphics display visual features of conversation in the same way that the face and hands do in face-to-face conversation among humans. This book describes research in all aspects of the design, implementation and evaluation of embodied conversational agents as well as details of specific working systems. Many of the chapters are written by multidisciplinary teams of psychologists, linguists, computer scientists, artists and researchers in interface design.
by Edward R. Tufte
May 1, 1990
This book as a "must-have" for any usability design engineer. While it is not a book that focuses specifically on usability design per se, all of the concepts covered in this insightful volume are extremely useful in designing human-computer interfaces. Moreover, since this is a book on information design, it is also a treasure trove of knowledge critical when designing in many other visual mediums such as those found in the world of print media. Throughout the engaging narrative, Tufte draws on many interesting historical examples of successful and unsuccessful attempts at visual communication including everything from astronomical charts to train schedules. A masterpiece in visual communication itself, the reams of useful knowledge in this book are brought together in a remarkably concise and coherent package, interspersed with beautifully illustrated examples and narratives. The physical book itself is of notable quality, a hallmark of any of Tufte's publications.
by Aaron Marcus
July 1, 1991
This book provides practical advice on how to use computer graphics to communicate information effectively. Whether the communication medium is a printed piece of paper or a computer screen, whether the information is contained in text, charts, maps, diagrams, or other illustrations, there are clear graphic- design rules governing good visual display or presentation. The author has more than 20 years of experience refining and explaining these rules as they apply to hardware, software, and every manner of computer application. This book brings together in one place the invaluable range of people who design or use computer systems.
by Jeff Johnson
March 17, 2000
GUI Bloopers looks at user interface design bloopers from commercial software, Web sites, and information appliances, explaining how intelligent, well-intentioned professionals made these dreadful mistakes--and how you can avoid them. While equipping you with all the theory needed to learn from these examples, GUI expert Jeff Johnson also presents the reality of interface design in an entertaining, anecdotal, and instructive way. This is an excellent, well-illustrated resource for anyone whose work touches on usability issues, including software engineers, Web site designers, managers of development processes, QA professionals, and usability professionals.
by Eric Freeman, Elisabeth Freeman
December 1, 2005
Tired of reading HTML books that only make sense after you're an expert? Then it's about time you picked up Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML and really learned HTML. You want to learn HTML so you can finally create those Web pages you've always wanted, so you can communicate more effectively with friends, family, fans and fanatic customers. You also want to do it right so you can actually maintain and expand your Web pages over time, and so your Web pages work in all the browsers and mobile devices out there. Oh, and if you've never heard of CSS, that's okay - we won't tell anyone you're still partying like it's 1999 - but if you're going to create Web pages in the 21st century then you'll want to know and understand CSS.
by Jakob Nielsen, Marie Tahir
November 5, 2001
The book begins with a briefing on Jakob's web usability principles, themselves culled from years of research. The 50 sites fall under such categories as Fortune 500 Sites, Highest-Traffic Sites, and E-Commerce Sites. The content is simply presented: Four book pages are devoted to each homepage. The first page is a clean screenshot of the site's homepage (for readers to make their own, unbiased judgments), followed by a page that explains the site's purpose and summarizes its success--or failure--at usability. The third and fourth pages are devoted to critiques, where Jakob and Marie present no-holds-barred commentary for specific usability practices, as well as suggestions for improvement. Although only the homepage of each site is analyzed, many of the critiques can be applied to overall website design.
by John M. Carroll
August 8, 2001
Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) has been a focal area for innovative multidisciplinary computing research and development during the past twenty-five years. As we contemplate the dawn of a new millennium, we should ask where the HCI project is going. What are the critical technical challenges and opportunities that will define HCI research and development work beyond the year 2000? What are the approaches that will sustain and enhance the vitality and effectiveness of HCI in this new era? How will HCI be different from and similar to what it is today? These questions can be addressed with respect to HCI taken broadly, or with respect to specific subdomains within HCI.
by Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville
August 15, 2002
Today's web sites have moved far beyond "brochureware". They are larger and more complex, have great strategic value to their sponsors, and their users are busier and less forgiving. Designers, information architects, and web site managers are required to juggle vast amounts of information, frequent changes, new technologies, and sometimes even multiple objectives, making some web sites look like a fast-growing but poorly planned city-roads everywhere, but impossible to navigate. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, 2nd Edition, shows you how to blend aesthetics and mechanics for distinctive, cohesive web sites that work. Most books on web development concentrate on either the graphics or the technical issues of a site. This book focuses on the framework that holds the two together. By applying the principles outlined in this completely updated classic, you'll build web sites and intranets that are easier to navigate and appealing to your users, as well as scalable and simple to maintain.
by Eric Schaffer
February 11, 2004
Intended for executives and usability engineers, this book outlines a four-stage process for initiating a new attitude towards product and web site design that focuses on the user interface and experience rather than on programming and technical issues. It discusses hiring a usability consultant, knowledge and skills training, the Schaffer method, testing facilities, design standards, staffing, and the activities of an established usability group.
by H. Peter Alesso, Craig F. Smith
December 4, 2001
This work presents a vision of the Web's near future and overviews the technologies that will make it possible. It explores developments in speech recognition, mobile wireless devices, network integration, and software, examining the convergence and synergy among five key technological components: speech as a primary user interface; wireless personal area networks; an integrated wired/wireless network infrastructure; supporting wireless protocols; and intelligent applications. Appendices list standards organizations, protocols, and security issues. Alesso has 20 years of experience as a group leader at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
by Ben Shneiderman
October 4, 2002
Ben Shneiderman's book dramatically raises computer users' expectations of what they should get from technology. He opens their eyes to new possibilities and invites them to think freshly about future technology. He challenges developers to build products that better support human needs and that are usable at any bandwidth. Shneiderman proposes Leonardo da Vinci as an inspirational muse for the "new computing." He wonders how Leonardo would use a laptop and what applications he would create. Shneiderman shifts the focus from what computers can do to what users can do. A key transformation is to what he calls "universal usability," enabling participation by young and old, novice and expert, able and disabled. This transformation would empower those yearning for literacy or coping with their limitations. Shneiderman proposes new computing applications in education, medicine, business, and government. He envisions a World Wide Med that delivers secure patient histories in local languages at any emergency room and thriving million-person communities for e-commerce and e-government. Raising larger questions about human relationships and society, he explores the computer's potential to support creativity, consensus-seeking, and conflict resolution. Each chapter ends with a Skeptic's Corner that challenges assumptions about trust, privacy, and digital divides.
by David K. Farkas, Jean B. Farkas
October 12, 2001
This is a conceptually rich book that teaches web design skills and offers practical guidance within a coherent framework of information-design principles and hypertext theory. With a very clear yet trim writing style and over 150 illustrations, this book offers a broad range of discussion items. An emphasis on intellectually challenging questions call for review and synthesis, problem solving, and the focused examination of Websites. A set of 30 "Quick Start" design principles enables readers to begin working on a project. Explanation of copyright issues include public domain content, fair use, and related issues. Emphasis on usability testing and other forms of evaluation teach the importance of involving users in the design process and help plan and conduct basic usability tests. For those interested in multimedia and web design.
Titles A to P Web Site Design Books
