From Blah to Aha! in Web Sites/Apps

There are a ton of resources out there to help developers (and designers) make better Web sites and applications, but I wanted to draw out three that I think will have a very high ROI for any developer who is building for the Web.  You could easily consume these three resources in a weekend and, if you apply them, will see immediate positive effects on your Web interfaces that your managers, customers, and the world will love and will ultimately lead to world peace. :)

First, two books, both of which are extremely approachable, short, and valuable:

• Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug
• Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks by Luke Wroblewski

Then, this talk by Ryan Singer of 37signals (think Basecamp, Ta-da List, & more).  [CS seems to strip out my embed.  Need to fix that; for now, use the link.]  I especially like his emphasis on language (towards the end).

These three resources all have very concrete, actionable guidance you can apply in everyday UI creation.

And as a bonus, for ongoing learning/reference, I suggest using the various UI patterns catalogs:

• Designing Interfaces (see Jennifer Tidwell's great book from which this is drawn)
• Patterns in Interaction Design (Welie.com)
• UI Design Pattern Library
• Yahoo! Design Pattern Library

I'm very interested in patterns; send me an note if you are, too.