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This is an excellent book that discusses human factors at a lot of levels from city planning, to the design of a simple device. It is kind of like a mash up between "Powers of Ten" and a Malcom Gladwell book. Not web centric, but a really good read and intro to HFE.
sounds fascinating, but there's no book title in your post!
http://www.amazon.com/Human-Factor-Revolutionizing-People-Te...
I like the books "Don't make me think" and "Designing the obvious" for some basic web UX knowledge. They are short and to the point.
Also, I'd throw in The Design of Everyday Things -- see http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/d.... It was written long before anyone ever thought of web usability; instead, it focuses on the usability of things you interact with daily in real life. Let's just say that you'll never look at teapots or door handles the same way again...
My favorite UX books: The Design of Everyday Things ( http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/d... ) The Humane Interface ( http://www.amazon.com/Humane-Interface-Directions-Designing-... ) Contextual Design ( http://www.amazon.com/Contextual-Design-Customer-Centered-In... )
I basically sent the same question in an e-mail to Amy Hoy last night. She recommended these two books, "The Universal Principles of Design (have to get a used copy) and About Face 3 for interaction design."
2. Whitney Hess, a respected UX professional with great PR skills, has a recommended list at http://www.flashlightworthybooks.com/Best-Recommended-Books-...
As a person who once switched to UX design for a while, I can say that they are definitely great books, though I can't understand everyone' obsession with Steve Krug (he has EXTREMELY basic books).
Also, Whitney has two popular blog posts of So You Wanna Be a UX Designer series: http://whitneyhess.com/blog/2009/06/30/so-you-wanna-be-a-use... and http://whitneyhess.com/blog/2009/11/23/so-you-wanna-be-a-use... . They will provide you basics, but also overwhelm with the huge volume of recommended sources.
3. konigi.com (ther blog and wiki) is a top source of information about ALL old and new UX tools, some UX basics and new UX trends. They also sell some very handy tools for UX designers http://konigi.com/tools/overview
Design, and art in general, is not very different from coding. You have to write code to be able to appreciate and learn from other's work. Here is one good link on how to critique art: http://bit.ly/d5Ep7p
My favorite UX books: The Design of Everyday Things ( http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/d... ) The Humane Interface ( http://www.amazon.com/Humane-Interface-Directions-Designing-... ) Contextual Design ( http://www.amazon.com/Contextual-Design-Customer-Centered-In... )
I'm reading The Design of Everyday Things right now. It is an amazingly good book. The examples are awesome. It really is changing the way I look at everything.
However, if you are looking for something more pragmatic, Steve's Don't Make me Think and JJG's The Elements of User Experience should be the top of your reading list, especially on web design.
Do that for UX/Design.
if you wanna learn about users, the way they think, and which problems they have on the web (eg with forms,..) just sit by your girlfriend, your mum or everybody you can watch in front of a computer.
the best is to watch them using something you created. so you get a clue of how different problems (than you think) other people have that you might think.
i was yesterday at a customer showing my progress. so he (a trainer for wordpress stuff) registered on the site and asked and did some (for me) weird things.
there´s tons of things to learn from that. :)