Designed for Use

Before We Start, a Word

This is a book for visual designers and programmers. It’s not, however, about visual design or about code. Instead, it’s about something much more important: the people who will be using your product.

The best product is of no consequence whatsoever if people don’t use it. You can create the most beautiful, sturdiest, most elegant brush in the world, but if nobody uses it to paint a picture, your work was in vain.

This book helps you make products—applications and websites—that people will want to use.

There are two kinds of chapters in this book: “technique chapters” and “idea chapters.” Each technique chapter explains a specific technique you can use during the design process to make your product more user-friendly: ...