I would also recommend "Designing with the Mind in mind" by Jeff Johnson. Less generic that what has been listed in this article since it focuses more on user

I would also recommend "Designing with the Mind in mind" by Jeff Johnson. Less generic that what has been listed in this article since it focuses more on user interfaces, it's a great overview of basic design principles, with clever illustrated examples. http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Mind-Simple-Understanding-Interface/dp/012375030X http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Mind-Simple-Understanding-In...