Designing the Obvious belongs in the toolbox of every person charged with the design and development of Web-based software, from the CEO to the programming team. Designing the Obvious explores the character traits of great Web applications and uses them as guiding principles of application design so the end result of every project instills customer satisfaction and loyalty. These principles include building only whats necessary, getting users up to speed quickly, preventing and handling errors, and designing for the activity. Designing the Obvious does not offer a one-size-fits-all development process--in fact, it lets you use whatever process you like. Instead, it offers practical advice about how to achieve the qualities of great Web-based applications and consistently and successfully reproduce them.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 28 Ratings

Did he really come up with all this wisdom? - 2009-01-06
Reviewer Rating:
Being someone who has read many things on this subject before, I could determine from the cover on where the author was getting his ideas from, but he was not citing anyone at all! There are no references, bibliography, no further reading in this book.

I don't like that approach at all, the book may be full of good ideas, but it's simply not fair to do a topic summary like this and not acknowledge the real authors of the wisdom you are sharing, otherwise it's just plagiarism. And that made me a lower my impression of New Riders.

Okay, but not for everyone - 2009-06-12
Reviewer Rating:
The author of this book essentially gives an almost continuous narrative about what he has read and what has worked for him. He paraphrases the works of others, and does a good job compiling a lot of good material into a concise summary of the crucial bits.

I give it a 3 because, despite the useful information and clarity of writing, I experienced too many eyeroll moments. The author has a serious Apple fanboy slant and it results not only in frequent, pedantic mini-ads for the company, but also in slamming the products/work of other companies who objectively also produce products that are recognized as having exceptional interfaces by everyone in the industry except the author. He seems to also go out of his way to use a picture generated in specifically windows xp for any negative illustrations. All of this together visibly scews his design opinion and puts into question the author's objectivity altogether.

I want my whole team to read this!! - 2008-04-12
Reviewer Rating:
I love this book for it's brevity, clarity and simplicity. While everything in this book is obvious and common sense, it is still amazingly useful. You should not underestimate your minds ability to ignore and distort such obvious things, especially when we are emotionally invested in the product. Reading this book is helpful when starting or reviewing a product.

Designing the Obvious: A Common Sense Approach to Web Application Design - 2009-05-08
Reviewer Rating:
Just loved this book; went out and good the other by Robert Koekman as well , all well written and packed with workable examples

I Recommend Buy It - 2009-02-05
Reviewer Rating:
Designing the Obvious not only tells you how to design for the web, but how to design for life. I find myself in everyday tasks using the tools given in this book. It is short, sweet and obviously a good buy. I highly recommend it.

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