You might have noticed we haven’t posted anything in a couple of weeks. In addition to being really busy (a good thing), our main blog writer has also taken a short vacation in that time (also a good thing). As he gets back to work writing the pithy musings you’ve come to expect, we’re going to give you a couple of reading assignments.

When we think about usability and plain language, a couple of names come to mind – Jakob Nielsen, Ginny Redish, Joseph Dumas, and Donald Norman among them. However, I think it’s important to know (remember?) that we can get tremendous insights from other types of research as well. Along those lines, I’ve recent read a few books that I think every researcher in every field should read, just for a different approach, a different perspective, and maybe some interesting anecdotes about other things that affect the way people behave.

Here are my recommendations for the week:

Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics by Levitt and Dubner
Sway by Ori and Rom Brafman
Why We Make Mistakes by Hallinan
The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers by Gladwell

And one more, just for good measure, our esteemed president has just released his first book –

Hang Up Your Phone!! A Tongue In Cheek Guide To Being Polite In The 21st Century – by John Goodwyn