Book Review: Don't Make Me Think 2nd Edition

On my current project, I have been forced to wear many hats. One of those hats is that of lead designer. Sure, putting divs on the page is easy. But how do you actually make something look good? How do you make it usable? How do you design a user experience?

I would call this book a good intro to the world of design. The author sets the expectations of this book at the beginning. It is not an all inclusive book (I don't think one is in existence in the world of design). It is a short primer to get the reader up to speed on some of the biggest design flaws. As the author quotes in his first few pages,

"You don't need to know everything. As with any field, there is a lot that you could learn about usability. But unless you are a usability professional, there is a limit to how much is useful to learn."

I would say that this book is a good intro.  It will give you the skills necessary to take a critical look at your websites design.  It will give you ideas to tweak the design.  It will give you the skills (say if you are a hireing manager) to take a good look at work being present to you.  Most of all, it will force you to think objectively about web usability and design so that you can make better decisions.

I recommend this book to anyone wanting to get a start in web usability.