Design Books

This section contains a variety of books on web design, help system design, user interface design, general software development, database design, graphics, and a host of questions that anyone in a techincal development position might wish to ask. We will be including coding language references as well as reference books for the most popular design and development tools on the market.

Localization and Globalization

Companies know that globalizing their web sites will produce exponential revenue growth - Web Globalization Strategies: Beyond Borders tells web developers how to do it. By 2003, the US will account for less than one-third of the worldwide Internet user-base of 602 million. This book illustrates step-by-step measures to take to globalize any web site for almost any country in the world, while presenting spotlights on real companies who have globalized their sites and the benefits they've received. Most executives know they want to reach a global market but have no idea what obstacles they face. Crammed with useful facts, tips, and ideas, this book will offer step-by-step advance on every aspect of web development, both technical and non-technical. Offers practical, in-depth information on such hard-to-research topics as online revenue models, online marketing options, site traffic analyses, usability testing, community building, legal issues, cost projections, and project management.

Usability

The book is very well written and executed. Diagrams are clear, terminology is used consistently, navigation aids and advance organizers are used to good advantage, and the book design is clean and visually appealing. Garrett's writing style makes approachable a highly complex subject, while still including all the essentials. The book includes a 13-page index, which is quite extensive for a volume of this length. This serves as a useful tool that allows you to dip into the information as needed once you have read it through. I wish that this book and the diagram upon which it is based were available when I first attempted the design of user experiences. It could have saved me from false starts, sub-optimal choices, and other hard-won lessons, and would have made it much easier for me to communicate my ideas to my fellow team members and to the managers for whom I worked. -- Dick Miller

Under a large heading "Web Sites for People," the authors write "Users need to be considered early and often. Usability needs to be a part of every step of the design process. Our approach is pervasive usability--integrating usability into everything we do. Our philosophy is that usability should not be an add-on, but that everyday processes should be modified to be user-centered." Define the audience and platforms. Conduct user needs analysis. Complete task analyses. Create information architecture. All the way to post-launch usability evaluations. While the authors' presentation is thorough and fairly comprehensive, it doesn't break new ground. You won't discover any gee-whiz methods or fascinating new insights here--although there is an excellent and long-needed chapter on how to write for the Web. -- David E. Rogers

A supremely usable nuts-and-bolts guide for beginners… A daily tool of the trade for specialists… Handbook of Usability Testing gives you practical, step-by-step guidelines in plain English. Written by Jeffrey Rubin, it arms beginners with the full complement of proven testing tools and techniques. From software, GUIs, and technical documentation, to medical instruments, VCRs, and exercise bikes, no matter what your product, you’ll learn to design and administer extremely reliable tests to ensure that people find it easy and desirable to use. * Requires no engineering or human factors training * A rigorous, step-by-step approach—with an eye to common gaffes and pitfalls—saves you months of trial and error * Liberally peppered with real-life examples and case histories taken from a wide range of industries * Packed with extremely usable templates, models, tables, test plans, and other indispensable tools of the trade

XML (eXtensible Markup Language)

This book is an excellent starting point to learn and experiment with XML. As the inventor of SGML, Dr. Charles F. Goldfarb is one of the most respected authorities on structured information. 2 CD-ROMs: 200 no-time-limit FREE packages. The proven XML resource for technologies, standards, tools, and applications—clearly explained in plain English. Comprehensive revision covers Web services, rich clients, XML on the desktop, forms, publishing, voice, wireless, XML security, and much, much more. Revised and enhanced tutorials. Includes the IBM alphaWorks XML suite plus a free Ontopia topic map browser with sample maps and instructions for making your own!

The purpose of this book is twofold: First to describe what needs to be done to internationalize XML documents and applications; second to describe how the XML data can be localized efficiently. There is currently almost no information on these two topics grouped and organized in a single reference. In addition, while XML has evolved a lot the past 2 years, it has now reached a point of global acceptance, as evidenced by the many international XML working groups addressing trading partner agreements, electronic document exchange, business processes, and eBusiness.

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