This book fascinated me because it was written in a factual, emotionless style. It's ostensibly about Christopher, an autistic boy investigating the murder of a dog in his neighborhood, but the boy's adventures quickly extend beyond a murder investigation. It is heartbreaking at times, but strangely also provides insight about designing software.

What I found relevant in this book was how many inferences we make in daily conversation. Whether it's reading body language or underlying assumptions about the subtext in conversations, so much of what we mean is unsaid. Christopher's autism prevents him from reading these subtexts, and so his interpretations of situations in the book are likely very different from yours or mine (which also are probably not the same).

Applying these learnings to building web products underscores the importance of writing precisely. Even the very best user interfaces and specifications will be susceptible to misinterpretation, but writing exactly what you mean (and supplying pictures, like Haddon does in this book) will help immensely in clearing up as many assumptions as possible.