Customer Rating:  
Summary: A little too simple
Comment: For anyone who already has basic knowledge of HCI principles and interface design, this book is rather simple. Nielsen covers topics which may be useful for someone who has never heard of usability...but for most in the field who strive to make usability a part of their designs, this book will be a quick read as it just "points out the obvious". I would recommend this book only for people who want an introduction to web site design, not those who want a more in-depth look at real usability issues.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Design a Book I want to Read
Comment: I wish the inside of this book lived up to it's cover, or title. What a let down! Try book design. A sea of text that falls into the gutter, leaving tons of white space unused off to the side. Ugly screen captures (albiet on point, if you are paying attention). Whatever it is about this book, the layout or the writting style (take your pick), I can't finish it. I've tried a few times, and with all these glowing reviews, I guess I'll try again. I DO agree that web usability is important. A good dose of bad medicine, I suppose. I'll hold my nose and keep reading (especially since I reeeaaaallly want to get my money's worth with this one). I still think it stinks.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Refreshingly to the point
Comment: From a design standpoint, it's easy to get ticked off at Nielsen- but he's nearly always right on the money. His book is well written, well researched, and extremely relevant and timely. There are no limit of interesting sidebars throughout, and lots of visual examples to hammer home his points. There is so much in the book which rings familiar - a lot of the approach you'd find in the Yale Style Guide or in the huge variety of available web courses, or online commentary. There is a great deal of innovative advice as well. That Nielsen has compiled all of this information into one solid must-read for every web designer is really a gift. I can't wait for the follow-up volume.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Jakob Nielsen is a Hammer
Comment: Jakob Nielsen is a hammer (read engineer) and to him everything Web-related--as the saying goes-- "looks like a nail (read schematic)."Although he raises some interesting points, Nielsen stumbles in that he views the Web as a labyrinth of reference materials. To him, designing Web usability is a mater of properly navigating and indexing these reference material sites. Lacking is his understanding of visual design, interactivity, human psychology and medium convergence. As a result, he unashamedly and arrogantly disregards these aspects of not only the design of effective usability, but also the design of effective user experience as a whole. Granted, the Web started out as tool for sharing electronic documentation. Today, however, it has evolved into a medium to deliver multimedia, as well. "Designing Web Usability" is somewhat pathetic in that it seems to be pushing for a status quo that stays in the realm of old-school thinking. There is too much emphasis on giving the user total control without boundaries. He is apparently unfamiliar with the notion that certain boundaries are helpful in many cases. This realm is safe and familiar to those that are having trouble adapting to a view of the Internet as a confluence of not only information, but of communications mediums as well. If the Internet is viewed as a structure, then certainly some nails are good--and Nielsen does raise some good points as they relate to his area of expertise--information architecture. There are, however, many other components of an effective Web structure that Nielsen glosses over. This is unfortunate in that Nielsen has wide influence. In terms of his overview of information architecture, he is not nearly as detailed as Louis Rosenfeld & Peter Morville are in "Information Architecture for the World Wide Web." Effective usability does NOT equal effective user experience. Usability is a part, but not the whole. To have a complete perspective, it would be advisable to read more broadly, and from other schools of thought.
Customer Rating:
Summary: ¡Fantástico! Utilísimo para todo diseñador web.
Comment: El libro de Jakob Nielsen sobre diseño web no se parece a ningún otro. Nielsen, basado en un profundo conocimiento de los factores humanos que intervienen en el proceso de utilización de todo sistema de información, respaldado por su sólida trayectoria profesional y por los resultados de numerosas investigaciones de campo y laboratorio sobre el uso de páginas web, define un norte en el confuso mundo del diseño web.Nielsen sostiene con lógica impecable que el objetivo del diseño web es hacer que el sitio web sea útil y fácil de usar, y que esto debe lograrse considerando las limitaciones de la Web como medio (particularmente la baja velocidad de transmisión y la heterogeneidad y fragilidad de las plataformas cliente). El contenido y su presentación clara determinan qué tan útil es un sitio web para los visitantes, mientras que la velocidad de descargue de las páginas y la facilidad de la navegación determinan qué tan fácil es de usar. A lo largo del libro, Jakob Nielsen analiza rigurosamente estas premisas para cada aspecto del diseño web: el diseño de las páginas, el diseño del contenido, el diseño de la estructura sitio, el diseño de las intranets, el diseño para usuarios minusválidos, el diseño de sitios multilingües. El libro está lleno de ejemplos ampliamente ilustrados a todo color. Nielsen termina su libro con un inteligente ensayo sobre el futuro de la Web, y expone una conclusión fundamental: la simplicidad es el arma del diseñador web, y su máxima crear sitios que no pongan estorbos al navegante, sino que le ayuden a conseguir sus objetivos lo más rápidamente posible. Como si fuera poco, la lista de lecturas recomendadas -sitios web y libros- son una guía estupenda para seguir estudiando sobre el diseño web. No todo diseñador de sitios web aceptará sin polemizar el enfoque de Nielsen. Pero ningún profesional del diseño web debe dejar de leer este libro porque contiene la reflexión quizá más profunda e integral que se ha escrito sobre nuestra disciplina.
|
|
