Customer Rating: 
Summary: Detailed Oriented Examples for Good Content
Comment: It was a while ago when I read this book, about 3 years ago and I still remember how extremely informational and what an eye opener it was to learn all sorts of content do's and don'ts along with the usability guidelines it has.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Learn more things than you ever imagined could be wrong with a website...so you can fix them
Comment: Until you have pointed out how popular websites have horrible flaws you just don't notice it. We rarely see good sites (and the distinguish quality of a good site is you don't get distracted and notice it is good) so it is hard to expect better. But this book insightfully shows what is wrong with websites. Once we see what's wrong we can recognize it and then we can FIX it.
Even though a lot of this is on what not to do, getting those basic errors fixed may make this the best book I've ever seen on how to make a GOOD website, or at least improve any web site.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: One of the better books available on Website Usability
Comment: Homepage Usability presents 50 major websites to artful analysis and thoughtful design criticism much in the way a well written art history overview would examine and catalog an exhibit. I found the book impressive in its exquisite rendering of the visuals, clarity of the markup of items and the writing clear and professional. The greatest compliant this reviewer has with the book is a keyword in its subtitle - deconstructed. The book would have been more useful if a set of guidelines and conclusions were more clearly presented rather than being distributed though the book. Perhaps in a revised edition or a companion volume the authors could take the experience and analysis gathered and and present it in the context of human factors engineering and webpage usability. Still despite these shortcomings, the book is important and clear in what it does accomplish - it is not a slap-dash effort - it stands out as well done. There is still need for a constructivist book on the subject. Much like the core web language HTML the details are overwhelming and structure sorely lacking - Homepage Usability does not simply elicit principles of web design. It is a benchmark to publishers that quality writing in the computer industry is possible.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource!
Comment: For that homepage that snaps and attracts design in Internet 'real estate': covering navigation, music, content, identity recognition employing elements of type, pictures, spacing, priority signals, coloring-- looks at the MOST visited sites such as Disney, ebay, amazon and MTV. 50 different sites with several pages devoted to each site. 320 pages all in color in beautiful book layout with points of reference for easy-to-compare pros and cons one site to another.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great reference and resource for solid design
Comment: While the content here is somewhat dated today, the lessons within are timeless. Each website reviewed and taken apart shows you exactly why some elements don't work and why others do. Then, when put back together, visually it shows you how it should have been done day one. Not only the 'how' but the 'why' as well. This is a great guide to keep by your desk if you design websites regularly.
|
|
