Is your web application painful to use?

That’s a question you should ask yourself seriously. It’s hard to admit when are own projects aren’t as good as they could be. Especially when that means we are causing our users frustration and pain. So many developers I’ve talked to want to make the experience better in their software, but don’t know how. Short of hiring a designer, where do you start?

That’s why I wrote Designing Web Applications, my new book on creating great experiences, to help designers, developers, and product managers know how to start designing an experience their users will love.

Starting from learning to communicate ideas quickly through wireframes, move on to refining the user experience, adding style to your application, polishing each interaction with animations and effects, then finally testing and going to market.

The book itself is 154 pages of exactly what you need to know to design a web application that looks good and is easy to use.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Understanding The Problem
3. Refine The Experience
4. Planning The Interface
5. Adding Style
6. Polishing Your Design
7. Going To Market
8. Testing Your Assumptions
9. Closing Thoughts

I’m actually just as excited for everything that comes with the book as I am for the book itself. Depending on which package of the book you purchase, you get up to 4 additional resources, 7 video tutorials, and 8 video interviews with expert designers and developers who have influenced my design work.

The Resources

• Web App PSD Template. I put together a lot of UI elements that I’ve used again and again over the years into a single PSD file. They work as a great starting point for a new application design.
• Wireframe PSD Template. The same idea, but in a sketched, wireframe style. I prefer to draw wireframes with pen and paper, but occasionally I use Photoshop to create sketched-style interfaces. Rather than using a program like Balsamiq or Mockingbird, I use this Photoshop template.
• The Bonus Content. There are a few sections that I would have loved to include in the book, but didn’t because of length. A few were published on this blog (the post about increasing revenue) and the rest are included in this extra PDF.
• Redesign Case Study. This fall I’ve had the privilege of redesigning a very popular time tracking application. In this case study I share how the ideas in my book apply to an actual redesign.

 Video Tutorials

Video Interviews

• Ryan Singer from 37signals
• Sacha Greif from Folyo
• Trent Walton from Paravel
• Sahil Lavingia from Gumroad
• Jarod Furgeson from WebWaitr
• Brennan Dunn from Planscope
• Patrick Mackenzie from Kalzumeus
• Jason Fried from 37signals

The Sale

For the first 24 hours I am running a launch day sale. Each of the packages is approximately 25% off (it varies a bit per package). So, if you are planning to buy the book, right now is the time to do it. Here’s how the sale prices break down:

• The Book $29 (normally $39)
• The Book + Videos $79 (normally $99)
• The Complete Package $199 (normally $249)
• The Team Package $799 (normally $999)

A Sample Chapter

You can read a few sample sections from the book in this PDF file:

Last night I was talking to a friend who wants to get into designing and marketing software. Probably a dozen times throughout the conversation I wanted to refer him to sections of the book or interviews. That’s how much I think this book will help.