Customer Rating: 
Summary: This is THE BOOK
Comment: Easy reading with tons of examples and facts to back up the statements. I'm a user interface evangelist, and Nielsen is now my hero.If you're only going to buy one book on web design, this is it.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Comprehensive and insightful
Comment: Based on six years of observing about 400 people use the web, "Designing Web Usability" is Jakob Nielsen's definitive guide to what makes a web site easy to use. Even though many sections in the book are sourced from Nielsen's alertboxes written years ago, the advice they contain remains solid.The book contains insightful and comprehensive treatments of page, content, and site design that include topics like creating written and graphical content, navigation, search, etc. It is basically a list of guidelines (rather than a step-by-step how-to), much like my own UI design book available at my site. Jakob also mentions a few technical issues, but only insomuch as they affect usability. As are most books, this one is not without its drawbacks. Ironically, the biggest drawback of this book has nothing to do with the book itself (which speaks highly of it), but rather with the fact that a lot of its content can be found in Nielsen's alertboxes on his web site. In addition, the chapter on accessible design is a little light on concrete, useful advice (beyond relative font sizes and alt text): there are better resources available free on the web. In conclusion, if you're new to the field of web design and haven't read Nielsen's alertboxes you should definitely get this book. And if you're a seasoned designer, well, chances are you already have it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Create a useful site as innovative as the web itself
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read
Comment: If you are interested in web design, this book is a must-read. I do not agree with everything the author says. He tends to emphasize more the technical than the artistic aspect of web design. This is ok if art breaks functionality rules, but Nielsen seems to exaggerate on a couple of occasions. All in all, however, a book worth reading.
Customer Rating:
Summary: You got to agree Nielsen is (mostly) right.
Comment: What many Nielsen detractors tend to mistake is that he isn't directing his guns against experimental, "artsy" websites, but rather against websites that are supposed to offer a service of value to their customers (we're talking for-profit sites here, which resumes most of the sites we developers are paid for anyway) and end up confusing them into a mishmash of confusing navigation and disorganized structures. Being a designer, I love the experimental design scene, but that is something I don't want to see when I am trying to access my deposit info at the online bank. Simplicity and at-the-second understandability in order to get to the site's goals is what this book is all about. Some pointers, like Nielsen's suggestions for SunWeb icons, are pretty lame and corny, as well as some of his suggestions to indicate user placement (a sweeping broom?) but that doesn't mean you have to take all that Nielsen says as "the" way to do things. Most of the book suggestions, though, make perfect sense, and will continue to do so for years to come. It can be pretty, but is it useful? Sites can be pretty AND useful, the challenge is to know where to establish the balance, and this book can be a great helper on this respect.
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