Books and tools

Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug

Understand the principles of intuitive navigation and information design. Steve Krug returns with fresh perspective to reexamine the principles that made Don’t Make Me Think a classic – with updated examples and a new chapter on mobile usability.

Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems by Steve Krug

In this how-to companion to Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, Steve Krug spells out a streamlined approach to usability testing that anyone can easily apply to their own Web site, application, or other product. By paring the process of testing and fixing products down to its essentials ("A morning a month, that's all we ask"), Rocket Surgery makes it realistic for teams to test early and often, catching problems while it's still easy to fix them.

Designing Web Interfaces: Principles and Patterns for Rich Interaction by Bill Scott et al.  

This book is not directly about information architecture—although you will find information architecture principles alluded to throughout. This book is also not directly about visual design—although you will find that the backdrop of good visual design is assumed throughout. This book is about interaction design: specifically, interaction design on the Web. And even more specifically, about rich interaction design on the Web.

Designing Interfaces  by Jenifer Tidwell

Despite all of the UI toolkits available today, it’s still not easy to design good application interfaces. This bestselling book is one of the few reliable sources to help you navigate through the maze of design options. By capturing UI best practices and reusable ideas as design patterns, Designing Interfaces provides solutions to common design problems that you can tailor to the situation at hand. This updated edition includes patterns for mobile apps and social media, as well as web applications and desktop software.

Mobile Design Pattern Gallery: UI Patterns for iOS, Android and More by Theresa Neil

Design patterns for mobile applications are emerging as the platform matures. Theresa Neil's new book "Mobile Design Pattern Gallery" provides solutions to common design challenges. There is inspiration on every topic from designing your application's navigation to choosing the right invitation technique. Explore 70 patterns with 400+ supporting examples from iOS, Android, BlackBerry, WebOS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian applications.