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Simple and Usable: web, mobile, and interaction design by Giles Colborne

I received this book after attending a workshop with Whitney Quesenbery and Steve Krug. It was a great seminar with lots of hands-on training in a two-day format.

With only 91 pages of content Simple and Usable is more of a pamphlet than a book and did not include much that I found to be original, but I have read a lot of books on the subject of usability over the years.

I like the presentation of the material and each even numbered page covers a single subject with a smattering of references and quotes while the odd numbered pages are relegated to photos that may or may not be relevant to the facing page.

If you want a quick read to get your head around the idea of "Simple and Usable" and how it applies to design, this book is a good choice. If you are looking for a book about usability and web design there are other books that are more thorough and practical.

From the book’s website http://www.simpleandusable.com/:

Have you ever set out to simplify a user experience and found that everyone around you was trying to add more complexity and detail? Have you ever found yourself caught between customers who demand simplicity and competitors who out gun you with exciting features? Designing simplicity can be complex.

Simple and usable offers examples and stories that break the subject down into tips, strategies and guidelines you can follow to create websites, software or mobile apps which have a compelling simplicity.

I rate this book a 6 out of 10, if you are looking for a quickie this may be your book.

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