Designing Web Usability - Softcover

Nielsen, Jakob

Softcover

ISBN 10: 156205810X ISBN 13: 9781562058104

Publisher: New Riders Pub, 1999

Synopsis

Users experience the usability of a web site before they have committed to using it and before making any purchase decisions. The web is the ultimate environment for empowerment, and he or she who clicks the mouse decides everything. Designing Web Usability is the definitive guide to usability from Jakob Nielsen, the world's leading authority. Over 250,000 Internet professionals around the world have turned to this landmark book, in which Nielsen shares the full weight of his wisdom and experience. From content and page design to designing for ease of navigation and users with disabilities, he delivers complete direction on how to connect with any web user, in any situation. Nielsen has arrived at a series of principles that work in support of his findings: 1. That web users want to find what they're after quickly; 2. If they don't know what they're after, they nevertheless want to browse quickly and access information they come across in a logical manner. This book is a must-have for anyone who thinks seriously about the web.

About this title

Review:

Creating Web sites is easy. Creating sites that truly meet the needs and expectations of the wide range of online users is quite another story. In Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity, renowned Web usability guru Jakob Nielsen shares his insightful thoughts on the subject. Packed with annotated examples of actual Web sites, this book sets out many of the design precepts all Web developers should follow.

This guide segments discussions of Web usability into page, content, site, and intranet design. This breakdown skillfully isolates for the reader many subtly different challenges that are often mixed together in other discussions. For example, Nielsen addresses the requirements of viewing pages on varying monitor sizes separately from writing concise text for "scanability." Along the way, the author pulls no punches with his opinions, using phrases like "frames: just say no" to immediately make his feelings known. Fortunately, his advise is some of the best you'll find.

One of the unique aspects of this title is the use of actual statistics to buttress the author's opinions on various techniques and technologies. He includes survey results on sizes of screens, types of queries submitted to search portals, response times by connection type and more. This book is intended as the first of two volumes--focusing on the "what." The author promises a follow-up title that will show the "hows" and, based on this installation, we can't wait. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: Cross-platform design, response time considerations, writing for the Web, multimedia implementation, navigation strategies, search boxes, corporate intranet design, accessibility for disabled users, international considerations, and future predictions.

From the Publisher:

It's true: Reading this book may be the most cost-effective action youll ever take to ensure that your website still matters a month from now and a year from now. Jakob Nielsen is one of the more sought-after speakers and commentators in the world of high-tech because of his message and the eloquence with which he delivers it. The message is simple--at least on the surface--and is accessible to anyone who will listen (and multitudes do each year): Put USABILITY first. Practice SIMPLICITY. The challenges and complexities to the 'put usability first' philosophy of design can begin when ideation turns to planning and planning turns to implementation; the challenges perhaps never stop, but Jakob helps you to understand them and to enable yourself to make the continual adjustments necessary to survive and prosper in the 'user-first' world of the web. The best thing about this book, along with what you'll learn about yourself and others who use the web (and how to improve the usefulness of your website immeasurably), is that Designing Web Usability is flat-out one of the best reads you'll encounter--in technology publishing or elsewhere. Jakob has a gift for communication that enables him to wrap his vision in a lucid, compelling discourse that appeals to academics and lay people, web designers and web users. Designing Web Usability holds this broad appeal because Jakob's message makes so much sense, while being masterfully communicated on so many levels. Who said you can't have fun while expanding your horizons? New Riders is honored to have worked with Jakob Nielsen over the past two years as he's written and refined Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity. We believe it's been well worth the wait. Let us know what you think... --Steve Weiss, executive editor, New Riders

About this edition

• Publisher: New Riders Pub
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 156205810X
• ISBN 13: 9781562058104
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 300