Production Tools

Nielson Norman Group

Jakob Nielsen & Donald Norman
Nielson developed useit.com as an open dialog about user interfaces.

Donald Norman is the author of The Design of Everyday Things. His books are indispensable for UI developers. This Web site provides links to essays, book chapters and other literature.

Web Pages That Suck

While it is critical to understand what good design is, it is equally important bad design. This site will help!

Designing Visual Interfaces: Communication Oriented Techniques

"An excellent introduction to the design theories involved in the creation of user interfaces." This book is similar in approach to Norman's book -- that is to say the concepts are not limited to web site layout. This book offers a thorough description of design techniques that will benefit everybody from the novice to the experienced graphic designer.

Web Style Guide

Widely recognized as the seminal guide to building web sites, Patrick Lynch and Sarah Horton have published their book online. It's a great resource for building sites and it includes a section on how to manage such projects.

Mockflow Online Wire framing

Super-easy Wire framing. Design, collaborate user interface mockups for your software and Web sites. There's a desktop version as well

The 960 Grid System

"The 960 Grid System is an effort to streamline web development workflow by providing commonly used dimensions, based on a width of 960 pixels." These online tools provide a design section that allows you to develop and download the CSS to match the design you choose.

Color Scheme Designer

We use this tool every time we develop an interface.

HTML 5 Compatibility Test

Let's face it, the combination of HTML5, CSS3, Javascript along with a server-side language of your choice is the way of the future. If you are on board then you need this tool.

Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask

This is an essential guide to evaluating web page content. The site provides techniques for assessing credibility and a series of questions to keep in mind when evaluating web content.

University of Maryland Evaluating Web Sites

"The purpose of this page is to provide the necessary guidelines used to determine the quality and accuracy of the information found on the World Wide Web."

New Mexico State University Library: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: or, Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources.

Another guide for evaluation criteria

Readability tests by Juicy Studio

A readability score is based on simple mathematics. Because the results vary with the type of method used to calculate a readability score, some do not consider readability tests reliable. Even so, it's a quick and easy way to have an estimate of whether what you are writing is appropriate for your audience.

Color blindness accessibility tests by Vischeck

Three types of color blindness affect vision, with the problem more common in men. This is our tool of choice when concerns about this aspect of accessibility crop up.

CSS Style check by W3. org

Check your style sheets for errors or duplication. CSS Validation Service

Wave 3.0 accessibility check by Temple University

A system designed to check accessibility problems, features and page elements for formatting issues. This tool is overwhelming visually, but once accustomed to the error symbols, it's very useful.

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Google Analytics

While there are other tools, Analytics is the 500 pound gorilla in the room. It's easy to use and has excellent support. ALl you need is a gmail account to get started.

Google Education / Conversion University

A "how to" for Google Analytics. Follow this up with as much information you can get about adwords and you are good to go.

Alexa

The so-called "Web Information Company" is an essential tool for higher traffic sites.