Usability

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.  --Albert Einstein
 

You need to know:

Jakob Nielsen, the “guru” of web usability, has practiced and researched the subject for 20+ years.  His website useit.com features Nielsen’s latest research, as well as relevant information on website usability from other sources. His latest book is Web Site Usability: the Practice of Simplicity (New Riders, 1999).  The bible.  Get a copy you can underline.  Read it.

Keith Instone maintains Usableweb.com, "the ultimate comprehensive collection of useful links" (Nielsen) about human factors, user interface issues, and usable design specific to the World Wide Web.  Keith wrote Usability Matters columns for  Web Review, and is now an information architect with Argus Associates and frequent speaker on web usability issues at major conferences.

Jared Spool, founded User Interface Engineering, and is lead author of Web Site Usability: a Designer's Guide (Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 1999).  This book is unique among web design books in that it differentiates information searching from web surfing, and clearly states the implications for web design .  Not hard to make the connection to library web pages and sites.  A very worthwhile read.
 

• Use fewer words

 
• Make text scannable (by the human eye)

• Cut the flashy marketing language

• Make it twice as useful:  Combine conciseness, scannability, and objectivity.

• Usability articles from Web Review

• Some interviews with Jared Spool on usability

• New interview with Jakob Nielsen by amazon.com