It's been known for years that usability testing can dramatically improve products. But with a typical price tag of $5,000 to $10,000 for a usability consultant to conduct each round of tests, it rarely happens. 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. (As he said in Don't Make Me Think, "It's not rocket surgery".) Using practical advice, plenty of illustrations, and his trademark humor, Steve explains how to: Test any design, from a sketch on a napkin to a fully-functioning Web site or application Keep your focus on finding the most important problems (because no one has the time or resources to fix them all) Fix the problems that you find, using his "The least you can do" approach 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. Rocket Surgery Made Easy adds demonstration videos to the proven mix of clear writing, before-and-after examples, witty illustrations, and practical advice that made Don't Make Me Think so popular.

Five years and more than 100,000 copies after it was first published, it's hard to imagine anyone working in Web design who hasn't read Steve Krug's "instant classic" on Web usability, but people are still discovering it every day. In this second edition, Steve adds three new chapters in the same style as the original: wry and entertaining, yet loaded with insights and practical advice for novice and veteran alike. Don't be surprised if it completely changes the way you think about Web design. Three New Chapters! Usability as common courtesy -- Why people really leave Web sites Web Accessibility, CSS, and you -- Making sites usable and accessible Help! My boss wants me to ______. -- Surviving executive design whims "I thought usability was the enemy of design until I read the first edition of this book. Don't Make Me Think! showed me how to put myself in the position of the person who uses my site. After reading it over a couple of hours and putting its ideas to work for the past five years, I can say it has done more to improve my abilities as a Web designer than any other book. In this second edition, Steve Krug adds essential ammunition for those whose bosses, clients, stakeholders, and marketing managers insist on doing the wrong thing. If you design, write, program, own, or manage Web sites, you must read this book." -- Jeffrey Zeldman, author of Designing with Web Standards

GUI Bloopers 2.0, Second Edition, is the completely updated and revised version of GUI Bloopers. It looks at user interface design bloopers from commercial software, Web sites, Web applications, and information appliances, explaining how intelligent, well-intentioned professionals make these mistakes – and how you can avoid them. GUI expert Jeff Johnson presents the reality of interface design in an entertaining, anecdotal, and instructive way while equipping readers with the minimum of theory. This updated version reflects the bloopers that are common today, incorporating many comments and suggestions from first edition readers. It covers bloopers in a wide range of categories including GUI controls, graphic design and layout, text messages, interaction strategies, Web site design – including search, link, and navigation, responsiveness issues, and management decision-making. Organized and formatted so information needed is quickly found, the new edition features call-outs for the examples and informative captions to enhance quick knowledge building. This book is recommended for software engineers, web designers, web application developers, and interaction designers working on all kinds of products. Updated to reflect the bloopers that are common today, incorporating many comments and suggestions from first edition readers Takes a learn-by-example approach that teaches how to avoid common errors Covers bloopers in a wide range of categories: GUI controls, graphic design and layout, text messages, interaction strategies, Web site design -- including search, link, and navigation, responsiveness issues, and management decision-making Organized and formatted so information needed is quickly found, the new edition features call-outs for the examples and informative captions to enhance quick knowledge building Hundreds of illustrations: both the DOs and the DON'Ts for each topic covered, with checklists and additional bloopers on www.gui-bloopers.com

User experience design is the discipline of creating a useful and usable Web site or application that’s easily navigated and meets the needs of the site owner and its users. There’s a lot more to successful UX design than knowing the latest Web technologies or design trends: It takes diplomacy, management skills, and business savvy. That’s where the updated edition of this important book comes in. With new information on design principles, mobile and gestural interactions, content strategy, remote research tools and more, you’ll learn to: Recognize the various roles in UX design, identify stakeholders, and enlist their support Obtain consensus from your team on project objectives Understand approaches such as Waterfall, Agile, and Lean UX Define the scope of your project and avoid mission creep Conduct user research in person or remotely, and document your findings Understand and communicate user behavior with personas Design and prototype your application or site Plan for development, product rollout, and ongoing quality assurance

Get advice and solutions for solving myriad of your PC problems, including expert tips on researching solutions on your own. Learn how to maintain your computer, keeping it in good working condition, plus how to upgrade and install new software safely. Troubleshoot Linux, Windows, and personal devices, use the internet effectively as a problem-solving tool, get up to speed on computer security, and set up small home and wireless networks. The companion Web site provides additional support.

An insightful discussion and practical guide on how to put customers back into the center of your business model With so many digital experiences touching our lives—and businesses—it’s understandable to feel like you’re drowning in data. There’s a dashboard or chart for just about everything, but data alone can’t help you understand and empathize with your customers. No amount of it will take you inside their heads, help you see the world through their eyes, or let you experience what it’s really like to be your customer. Only human insight from real people can do that. User Tested gives both individual contributors and executives an approachable, pragmatic playbook for stepping beyond standard business metrics and infusing real human insight into every business decision, design, and experience. In this book, you’ll: Learn how businesses became obsessed with data—but disconnected from their customers—and why that’s not sustainable Get the basics about how to capture human insight through user testing, including how to find the right people, ask the right questions, and make sense of and act on all the insights you uncover Dive into a detailed playbook that shares real-world examples of how you can collect and scale human insight across the teams in your organization—from marketing to product, and beyond Learn how to evangelize the power of human insight throughout your organization, so every department can create a culture of customer empathy and share a firsthand understanding of customer needs Find out how companies like Microsoft, AAA Club Alliance, HelloFresh, and Notre Dame’s IDEA Center solidly connect with and elicit meaningful feedback from customers in friendlier, faster, and more direct ways Perfect for any industry, User Tested: How the World's Top Companies Use Human Insight to Create Great Experiences was co-authored by the chief insights officer and the CEO of UserTesting—a SaaS company fundamentally changing the way both B2B and consumer brands find out what real people think and feel. The book reflects the authors’ commitment to helping you position the customer squarely in the center of your business model by weaving their true voices throughout your company’s decision making.

This book is a guide to the use of type in design for print and screen. It provides a creative, informative and practical introduction for those studying all pathways of graphic design. The authors discuss who uses type, where and when type is employed, audience and appropriateness of type and communication. The book includes basic information about type and its terminology, using typefaces, designing and communicating with type, colour and movement, experimentation with type and production issues. Throughout, examples are drawn from design for both print and screen. How to Use Type includes illustrated activities and case studies linked to key issues discussed in the text. This book offers an invaluable overview of an essential aspect of visual communication.