I took the Integrator Exam a couple of weeks ago in Brussels, Belgium at the FOSDEM conference. The english e-book version of the original TYPO3 Integrator Exam book (Patrick Lobacher) was a real help. Not only does it help you to prepare for your exam, but the clear and complete answers are also a good way to learn TypoScript by examples. I recommend this book for everyone who works with TypoScript, weather you take the exam or not.

Neuro Web Design is a very easy to read psychology book which deals with questions like: Why do people decide to buy a product online? and Why do they trust the information a website provides? The book describes how the human brain works and how information and design is stored in our brain. It teaches you how to get peoples attention on a website without them even knowing you’re doing it. This book is really interesting when you want to know how the unconscious brain works and how you can activate it. After you read this book you know how to design a website which will attract the attention of people because you triggered that unconscious part.

Quote from the website of the book on which I totally agree: “You will learn the unconscious reasons for people’s actions, how emotions affect decisions, and how to apply the principles of persuasion to design web sites that encourage users to click. Neuro Web Design is scientific, yet you’ll find it accessible and easy to read”

I suggest you just read the book. You can finish it in half a day and you’ll be surprised by the content and how easy it is to implement these things.

#1: Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug

Wonderful book, a must read for everyone in web design. The book covers most of the usability fields and is plain and simple to read. Steve uses mostly common sense to argue usability problems and gives you a fresh look on things. I suggest you read this book when you’re new on usability or you just want a book that’s easy written with some humour along the way. Steve’s tips are really useful in everyday’s work!

201 pages, 2005

I rate this book 5/5

#2: Web Usability Handbook by Mark Pearrow

This book is much more detailed than Steve’s and therefore a lot harder to read. Mark goes into detail about every step in the usability process, from basic usability facts to a detailed plan on how to setup a testinglab. This book is definitely useful when you want to do some usability testing yourself, but with a decent (big) budget. The book is complete but also rough to get through.

352 pages, 2006

I rate this book 4/5