When comparing The Design of Everyday Things vs The Pragmatic Programmer, the Slant community recommends The Pragmatic Programmer for most people. In the question“What are the most influential books every programmer should read?” The Pragmatic Programmer is ranked 1st while The Design of Everyday Things is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose The Pragmatic Programmer is:
Which helps you with writing flexible and adaptable code.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Transcendental principles
This book isn't focused on recent trends or properties specific to a certain field, and thus applies to all design. It provides a broad view and allows focusing on the fundamental goals of the user experience, rather than being limited in scope.
Pro Focused on the user
Whatever that's being designed, for whatever purpose, it always has the same goal of being used by someone. This book is focused on that interaction and on why users make mistakes. These principles still apply directly to web design, when design leads users to make mistakes, it will ultimately drive users away.
Pro Explains the mechanics of programming
Which helps you with writing flexible and adaptable code.
Pro Already Classic
Straight forward explanation of basic algorithms
Pro Analyses the core process without trying to sell any particular methodology
Pro Clean and straight to the point list of things to do
Cons
Con Quite dated
Examples are quite old, as are the illustrations.
Con A lot to read
It's quite a long read, there is a lot of material to be covered, if you compare it to similar but more concise books, like The Non-Designer's Design Book.
Con Not specifically for web design
This book challenges the reader to think about the design of all objects, and their user-friendliness/usability. It is not specifically targeted towards web designers, but will help web designers think in a way that benefits users.