Getting Real

The public generation clash between Don Norman (UI guru) and 37 Signals (creators of popular webapps like Basecamp) convinced me to finally buy their book “Getting Real: The smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful web application“.

The book is available for free (html) or for a small fee (pdf) and as a paperback version. I chose the latter because the book is written for “in between reading” (park, plane, tub).

Each chapter is compact - rarely more than two pages - and nicely annotated with great memorable quotes. The content is no only about pragmatic modern software engineering but also outlines a culture that enables efficient, effective and satisfying coding.

There are main two reasons why I recommend this book:

1. It describes a trend that I experience and embrace in a lot of UI projects recently: Pick less features, stay focussed and make them perfect.

2. It is essential to how clients’ mindset will hopefully transform in a not too distant future.

Short: A must read, not only for designers but for anybody working on webapps.