Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug

Web usability is something many developers don't think anything about, but if you don't think about usability your sites won't be usable. Steve Krug's book Don't Make Me Think doesn't force you to think about usability. Instead, it shows you, with pictures and humor how to make your Web sites better.

When I first found this book I was skeptical. Books about Web development and usability were getting bigger and thicker, not smaller. I flipped it open and turned to page 123 and found a cartoon that was the meeting I had had that afternoon. It described the dynamics that go on between a Marketing Manager, a Web Designer, a Web Developer, and a Project Manager, and he was right on the money. The goals and objectives of any given team member are generally completely different from every other team member, and none of them actually represent the customer. The cartoon made me laugh.

Steve takes a look at many sites on the Internet (including a site that I have worked on - not About.com), and explains how what they're doing is either good, bad, or ugly. He also gives suggestions for what to do to make the page or section more usable. And he goes way beyond just design. He talks about the content, the graphics, the navigation, and all the elements you need to make a great site. And then he explains how to test to make sure your ideas work.

If you have a bunch of usability books for the Web, this will be the one you read cover-to-cover. If you don't have any usability books, this is the one you should buy. It's fun and easy to read, and have a lot of great information.