How Anyone Can Make Their Web Apps Easier to Use

Build Web Apps That Users Love — Without Having to Be a Usability Expert.

What makes a web app successful? Usability. Usable apps attract and retain users, leading to happier customers and stronger business results. But how do you, as a developer, improve usability without a design background? Or, if you're a designer that loves aesthetics but doesn't have as much experience with the psychology of human-computer interaction?

Over the past 20 years, I've honed a framework that empowers everyone to create intuitive, user-friendly web apps. Tested across countless projects and real-world usability sessions, this approach has gotten great results every time.

Normal UI is a straightforward, actionable system that you can learn today and apply tomorrow. Packed with real examples and practical steps, this book will transform how you think about building web apps.

Who Will Benefit from This Book?

If you're any of the following, Normal UI is for you:

• Developers who want to build apps that work seamlessly for users.
• Designers whose skills lean more towards aesthetics but are looking to enhance usability.

Whether you're a solo dev, part of a startup, or a member of a larger team, this book equips you with the tools to elevate your web app usability.

What You’ll Learn

• Learnable and Repeatable Techniques: A simple system for creating intuitive user interfaces.
• Step-by-Step Guidance: Clear instructions for applying the Normal UI framework to any project.
• Real Examples: Practical case studies that demonstrate how to normalize and denormalize UI for optimal usability.
• Developer-Focused: Designed for engineers, the concepts are easy to grasp and apply—no design expertise required.

Why “Normal” UI?

The concept of “normal” UI draws its name from database normalization. User interfaces can be normalized (split into focused screens) or denormalized (condensed into single screens).

Knowing when to normalize or denormalize a UI has proven, over 20 years, to have a massive impact on usability. This book teaches you how to make these decisions based on user needs, software complexity, and how frequently users use a feature.

A Quick Read, Big Impact

Get straight to the point with a book designed to be read fast and put into action immediately. The concise format, combined with actionable examples, ensures you can start improving your web apps right away.

You can read even more details in my blog post on Normal UI.

AI-Generation Super Power

Normal UI isn’t just for human users—it’s designed to work seamlessly with AI tools. Whether you’re using AI to assist in app creation, generate prototypes, or test usability, this framework ensures your designs are easy for AI to understand and implement.

With Normal UI, you’ll learn how to craft clear, structured UIs that make it simple to guide AI in building normalized or denormalized workflows.

Future-proof your web apps with a system that pairs perfectly with modern AI-driven development workflows.

Go Further with the Video Series

Take your understanding to the next level by bundling the book with the Normal UI Video Series. Watch as I break down real-world examples, show you how to implement the techniques, and demonstrate how to work with AI to streamline your app design process.

Included with the bundle is an exclusive AI prompt to help you generate prototypes and apps aligned with Normal UI principles. Plus, you’ll have access to a private forum where I answer questions directly.

Sample Chapters and Table of Contents

Click here to download the first four chapters free.

Here is the table of contents of the complete book:

• Introduction
• The Designer Dilemma
• Normalization
• Workflows, Screens, and Frames
• How Do You Normalize?
• Metrics
• Low-frequency/High-complexity - You Should Normalize
• High-frequency/High-complexity - You Should Denormalize
• Low-frequency/Low-complexity - You Might Normalize
• High-frequency/Low-complexity - You Should Denormalize
• The Four Quadrants
• Normalization In The Real World
• Keep Workflows Small-ish
• Determine Complexity on a Napkin
• Normalize Dangerous Workflows
• Workflows Form the App Skeleton
• Normalized UIs Have Dev Benefits
• Handle Scope Creep Through Normalization
• Provide Context on Normalized Screens
• Make Clear Calls-to-Action
• Help Users Recover From Errors
• Tell Users They Were Successful, and Help Them Keep Going
• How To Talk About Normal UI
• Recommended Reading
• Conclusion

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