User Interface Design for Programmers

"User Interface Design for Programmers" (159 pages)

Joel Spolsky's "User Interface Design for Programmers" is concise, educational, entertaining... and free (even an easy-to-read all-in-one HTML page): http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/fog0000000249.html Also highly recommend Steve Krug's "Don't Make Me Think" (as others have already commented): http://www.sensible.com/dmmt.html

If you're short on time: http://joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000057.html Spolsky's work is light and easy to read. This work is geared towards "progammers", although that is not mutually exclusive with the word "CEO". It'll help you avoid more obvious mistakes. Nielson and About Face are more thorough. I haven't read Don't Make Me Think but I've heard good things (and lots of comments here, so obviously I should read that one...)