Information Appliances & Beyond
by Eric Bergman, Morgan Kaufmann, 2000

5/5 - For pure breadth, achievement of compilation it just scrapes into the top tier! However, much of it has been said before even if this presentation of it is new. There just wasn't enough depth. The war stories of device design are interesting history but add little to provide a repeatable understanding of "how to". The later material particularly the chapter on "Persuasive" technology was truly thought provoking.

The Humane Interface
by Jef Raskin, Addison Wesley, 2000

5/5 - It's not really a book for programmers or web developers looking for solutions to everyday problems but for those from the HCI, Interaction Design, UI Design and Usability disciplines, this book, which extends the state-of-the-art, is a "must have".

Great Web Architecture
by Clay Andres, IDG Books, 1999

2/5 - Weak! Looks wonderful but sadly isn't all that "Great" and isn't about architecting anything much. It is about the web and it does show off some nice sites. Read the interviews and analyse the screen shots.

Designing Web Usability
by Jakob Nielsen, New Riders, 2000

3/5 - Unfortunately, it doesn't tell you "how", it isn't science, it's not about every kind of website or every kind of user, but it will help, in some small way to make the web a better place to be.

Developing User Interfaces for Microsoft Windows
by Everett N. McKay, Microsoft Press, 1999

5/5 - A really good teaching book for GUI Interaction Design. Fills a gap between grandiose methodology books and lower level style guides. Such a pity that it comes so late.

Web Navigation
by Jennifer Fleming, O'Reilly, 1999

4/5 - Addresses the really important issues, lots of good advice, an important book for site designers everywhere. Perhaps just a little anecdotal to get full marks this time around.

The Inmates are running the asylum
by Alan Cooper, SAMS, 1999

4/5 - If Cooper writes a "how to book" then it may well get 6/5 but this one just isn't deep enough.

Software for Use
by Larry Constantine and Lucy Lockwood, Addison Wesley, 1999

5/5 - Perseverence is required. There are too many leading edge ideas to score it other than full marks. Advances the state-of-the-art in systems engineering by promoting Interaction Design as an integrated part of the lifecycle.

Designing Large Scale Websites
by Darrell Sano, Wiley, 1996

3/5 - Aging in places but still offers some great advice on visual communication for the web.

Java Look and Feel Guidelines
by Sun, Addison Wesley, 1999

3/5 - Stunning. Necessary. "Must have". The large amount of assumed knowledge and the at times superficial explanations make it too much like other disappointing guideline books which went before. Sorry, Sun! Needs to offer more advice on usage and proper explanation before it will rate higher.

Web Site Usability
by Jared Spool et al, Morgan Kaufmann, 1999

3/5 - A future edition of this book will undoubtedly score higher when it can answer more questions than it asks. At the moment it doesn't teach web site usability to designers as the title suggested.

The Usability Engineering Lifecycle
by Deborah Mayhew, Morgan Kaufmann, 1999

4/5 - Not a "must have" book except for those who seek to improve the state-of-the-art. For the everyday field practitioner in UI Design, the Arlov "Dummies" book is a better and lighter read.

Designing for the User with OVID
by Dave Roberts, Dick Berry, Scott Isensee & John Mullaly, MacMillan, 1998

2/5 - Needed to be 600 pages of real in-depth content. An academic exercise for the classroom only!

Constructing the User Interface with Statecharts
by Ian Horrocks, Addison-Wesley 1998

4/5 - An important "must have" book for serious UI Architects.

GUI Design for Dummies
by Laura Arlov, IDG 1997

5/5 - Another important "must have" book for UI Developers and Designers.

Designing Visual Interfaces - communication oriented techniques
by Kevin Mullet and Darrell Sano, Sun Press, 1995

5/5 - A "must have" book for the serious UI Designer.

Developing User Interfaces
by Dan R. Olsen Jr., Morgan Kaufmann, 1998

1/5 - Too wide and no depth. Serious UI developers need to read this stuff in greater depth in specialist books.

Object Oriented Project Management with UML
by Murray Cantor, Wiley, 1998

2/5 - Sadly, just like UML, it has really little focus on the UI to be of great interest.

Practical Analysis & Design for Client/Server & GUI Systems
by David A. Ruble, Yourdon Press, 1997

3/5 - Well enough written, hopefully someone will pick up the UI ideas in this book and take them further.