100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People

I have been waiting for a book like this for so many years now. I think with every profession there are certain ideas that are taken for granted and, over the decades, become "fact" for practitioners. But just because research showed something 40 years ago doesn't mean that study was well done, or correct, in the first place. The strength of this book is that the author cites more recent research about principles you either thought you knew, and were wrong, or that you thought you knew, and are still right. I feel a certain sense of liberation reading a book like this, because if you cannot challenge your closely held beliefs, what kind of professional are you?

The structure is terrifically usable: one hundred "chapters" that are often only 1 or 2 pages long. In a book like this, the references are as valuable as the author's own writing. I can look up the sources and make up my own mind if I have any questions. But most of the time, I appreciate the author's explanations of the book's segments:
* How people see
* How people read
* How people remember
* How people think
* How people focus their attention
* What motivates people
* People are social animals
* How people feel
* People make mistakes
* How people decide.

Amidst all the success of the book is some occasional lack of proofreading on the editor's part. This is not the author's fault, but I do think the editor was not up to the task. But that does not inhibit the usefulness of the book. It is dense, yet concise. A really good reference to keep on the shelf at one's desk, no matter what research and design projects one works on.