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Designing Web Usability : The Practice of Simplicity (Paperback) (Paperback)
by Jakob Nielsen
| Category:
Internet, Web developing, Design, Software |
| Market price: ¥ 428.00
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¥ 408.00
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| MSL Pointer Review:
This is a bible for web developers who are serious about business results! |
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Author: Jakob Nielsen
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Pub. in: December, 1999
ISBN: 156205810X
Pages: 432
Measurements: 9.5 x 6.8 x 1 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA01014
Other information: 1st edition
ISBN-13: 978-1562058104
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- MSL Picks -
Jackob Nielsen has pulled together an excellent primer on usability for websites. Perhaps the easiest way to summarize his book is the book's tagline: "The practice of simplicty."
Web design has to this point been more of an intuitive art for many designers. Many web managers look at general graphic and layout design and not the functionality that design is suppose to enable. Nielsen takes this intuition and describes exactly what solid, functional web design looks like and what it should do.
He uses numerous real world examples and screen shots throughout the book. Scattered throughout are statistics from his research which are helpful as well. Nielsen also explains how website should differ from Intranet sites and also how to "internationalize" your website for foreign users.
One particularly helpful chapter focused on how to write for the web. A common theme throughout the book is that web users are impatient and thus prefer to skim rather than read. Thus, when writing web content, you should do so with skimming in mind using lots of bullets, and highlighting key words. He also advocates using Title tags for links so that when a user places a mouse cursor over the link, a little bubble help will appear describing where the link will take the user.
The chapter on page design is also particularly helpful in building in designing pages that tells the user where they are, what they can do from there, where they can go from there, and what is offered - all without scrolling.
Nielsen has become the Father of Usability on the Internet. This is a great book to give you some practical advice on design. It won't tell you how to do coding, but it gives you the conceptual framework needed to design a site. Even if you do not agree with all of his points, it will at least have encouraged you to think about aspects of design that many haven't considered.
Target readers:
Web developers, programmers and any webmasters.
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Jakob Nielsen, Ph.D. is a User Advocate specializing in web usability and a principal of Nielsen Norman Group (http://www.nngroup. com), which he co-founded with Dr. Donald A. Norman, former vice president of Apple Research. Until 1998, Dr. Nielsen was a Sun Microsystems Distinguished Engineer and led that company's web usability efforts starting with the original design of SunWeb in early 1994. His previous affiliations include the IBM User Interface Institute, Bell Communications Research, and the Technical University of Denmark. Nielsen is the author and editor of 8 other books and more than 75 research papers on usability engineering, user interface design, and hypertext. He is also a frequent keynote presenter at industry conferences. Nielsen is the founder of the "discount usability engineering" movement for fast and simple ways of improving user interfaces. Nielsen's Alertbox column about web usability has been published on the Internet since 1995 (http://www.useit.com/alertbox) and currently has about 100,000 readers. He is also the usability columnist for Ziff-Davis Network's DevHead and a web design critic for Internet World magazine. He holds 46 U.S. patents, mainly on ways to make the Internet easier to use. Dr. Nielsen's website is at http://www.useit.com: It's text-only and pretty fast.
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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.
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A reader (MSL quote), UK
<2007-06-29 00:00>
By thinking of a website as an interface instead of a means to directly deliver entertainment or complex content the value of the Jakob Nielsens's guidelines becomes more obvious.
Browser incompatibility issues, unsupported file types, and the prevalence of modem dial-up-connections makes the internet and website design a challenge. Simple and usable websites are an even bigger challenge, which is why too few exist. But what a refreshing relief they are when happened upon.
If more websites adhered to the Jakob Nielsen way of thinking ( as it is mine ) the internet would be much more useful.
Steve Krug's 'Don't Make Me Think' should also be read, and digested.
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R. Tiedemann (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-29 00:00>
Jackob Nielsen has put together the most logical and useful book on creating usable websites with the kind of information people want. And, when you think of it, what's more important?
You can design a web site, sure, but making it something folks learn from and want to come back to is something else. So is making it easy to use and chocking it full of the kind of information visitors want to see. His emphasis is on the business site, but the principles apply to everyone. If your web site is just for play, and you don't care about usability, this book isn't for you.
In the introduction, "Why web usability," Nielsen points out that there are two approaches to web site design: one of artistic expression and the other of problem solving for the customer (meaning web site visitor). He promises a systematic approach to designing a site that encompasses both. He accomplishes his goal beautifully. For each principle he gives, he provides a background of statistical support.
This is not a book about how to construct a web site as much as it's about how to make that site attractive and easy to use. As he says, you'll have to go elsewhere to learn HTML and how to design and put your site on the web but you should read this first to learn what your customers or audience want and how to make your site useful as well as appealing.
Common errors in web design include: Treating the web like a business brochure, managing a site as if it were a traditional corporate project, structuring the site to mirror the company, creating gorgeous pages that look great to insiders but don't necessarily appeal to customers, writing that's linear, and not linking to relevant sites that would be helpful to your customers. "The Web is a new medium and requires a new approach, as explained in this book," he writes.
This is an intelligent book. It's not hard reading but on the other hand, it's not written for children. It's full of new vision and great advice. It's definitely not the only book you should have on web design, but it should be in your collection.
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Robert Morris (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-29 00:00>
An abundance of market research data indicates that convenience (or ease of doing business) is ranked either first or second among attributes by which customers measure their satisfaction with a seller of goods and/or services. This is especially true of visitors to Web sites. As Nielsen brilliant explains and then convincingly demonstrates, "web usability" is another application of the KISS Principle. He has written two books which "attack the problem of usable web design from two angles. This first one is about the 'what' of good websites, and the second is about the 'how.'...This book explains what is known about the properties of easy-to-use websites. Short preview: Relish simplicity, and focus on the users' goals rather than glitzy design." He guides his reader through various phase of web design (page design, content design, and the design of the overall architecture) and then shifts the reader's attention to "special issues" such as intranets, users with disabilities, and international users. Nielsen concludes his book with a "view toward the future of the Internet and new developments on the Web."
Who will derive the greatest value from reading this book? My hunch (only a hunch) is the owner/CEO of a small-to-midsize company which has not as yet launched a Web site, or, which has done so and the Web site has not achieved its objectives thus far. Whether designing a Web site or a residence, the same basic question must first be answered: Why? More specifically, how will it be used? By whom? To serve which specific purposes? To accomplish what? And at what cost? Nielsen observes, "usability rules the Web. Simply stated, if the customer can't find a product, then he or she will not buy it. The Web is the ultimate customer-empowered environment. He or she who clicks the mouse gets to decide [italics] everything. it is so easy to go elsewhere; all the competitors in the world are but a mouseclick away." The challenge, then, to maximize the "usability" of a Web site for those who are attracted to it. Research data reveal that a substantial majority of those who go on-line visit only ten Web sites 90% of the time. Presumably those who are only one-time visitors had an unsatisfactory experience. Getting them to return may not be impossible but is certainly very, very difficult.
Nielsen explains that "There are essentially two basic approaches to design: the artistic ideal of expressing yourself and the engineering ideal of solving a problem for a customer. This book is firmly on the side of engineering." He correctly realizes that today, this moment, the patience of a Web site visitor is measured in seconds. "This book is full of specific methods that can be used at almost every stage of a web project to dramatically enhance the the user experience." That's true. Nielsen does indeed provide an abundance of information, observations, caveats, and suggestions but all of them presuppose the constant practice of simplicity in both planning and execution of strategies and tactics.
Who else will derive substantial value from this book? Decision-makers in much larger organizations (especially those involved on a global basis) who are hard at work on projects whose success depends directly or indirectly, on the usability of their organization's Web site. Specifically, those who are formulating or revising initiatives to improve CRM, employee recruitment and retention, allocation of resources, logistics, internal and external communications, contingency planning and crisis management, and cycle time reduction. In other words, decision-makers who are determined to maximize usability in literally every area of operations. Yes, this is a book about the Web but the Web, ultimately, is about everything and everyone involved in every organization, regardless of its size and nature.
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Kevin Stahnke (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-29 00:00>
In reading over the reviews it is easy to find people who are quite hostile to what Nielsen has to say and it's easy to understand why-he insults and threatens their very approach to web design. Nielsen's message is really quite simple: web sites should be constructed for the end user, not to demonstrate the skills and ego of the designer. Unless you are designing a site that is intended simply to demonstrate the breadth of your abilities, designing is not about fun-it's about taking information and making it as accessible as possible for your end users. It can be fun, but your own enjoyment shouldn't be the purpose.
In Designing Web Usability Nielsen does an effective job of demonstrating ways in which you can help your users to move through your site efficiently and accurately. Individual sections may seem seem somewhat self-evident, but taken as a whole these sections add up to an impressive amount of information.
Of particular interest are chapters 4: Site Design, and a section in chapter 3 on writing for the web. In the section on site design he discusses issues such as using navigational cues to orient the reader to where they are, where they've been, and where they can go, and different types of organizational schemes. As a technical communicator I found the section on writing for the web particularly relevant. Put simply--most people do not like to read online. You have a second or two to grab their attention and only a bit longer to hold them there if they are intrigued. Relevant information needs to be placed front and center and should be foregrounded through the effective use of headings, bulleted lists, etc. This section does a good job explaining how to do so.
None of this is to say that Nielsen is without fault. I do believe that there are times when his rules should be broken. He seems to assume that conveyance of information is the only purpose of the web and, obviously there are many other reasons people surf. Nevertheless, if your site has the purpose of communicating information of some form, this book should be read and absorbed.
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