Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:  
Summary: Web sites for dummies
Comment: After reading this book I came up with a better title for it:
"Web sites for dummies".
But then again, should web dummies really read this book ?
The content of this book is made of a series of advices about
organizing your web space. Most good advices in this book are already available (for free) on the W3 markup validator (validator.w3.org) or on some other W3 Consortium page (w3.org).
Other advices are just worthless, like this little jewel:
"[...] sound effects can be used as an extra dimension in the user interface [...] the progress of a file download could be indicated by the sound of water pouring into a glass".
Surely that will clarify it all! Should a flushing sound be played as well ?
I don't see how such a sound could actually give information about the progress of a download.
People really serious about designing user interfaces should try one of Jef Raskin's books, like "The Humane Interface" (ISBN: 0201379376) which introduces quantification techniques of a user's pain when manipulating an interface.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A good book that could be condensed more efficiently
Comment: This book summarizes what Jakob Nielsen has been trying to tell us for years about building usable software. Here he applies it to the web. This is probably the best book out there for learning to create web interfaces that won't send users clicking away after two seconds. My only complaint about the book is that he keeps reiterating the same core points over and over again, chapter after chapter. If it's so simple, then why am I reading 500 pages? A good book, but probably could have been condensed more efficiently.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good pricipals, but needs to be updated
Comment: The general ideas in the book are quite good, and should knows to all web developers, even if they choose to ignore them. The only problem I had with the book is that it was released in '99, and in some cases, it shows it's age. In today's environment, we usually don't need to worry as much about 56k modems, or 800x600 screens.
The ideas of a fluid design and response time, however, are still quite valid.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good book
Comment: It's one of the must-have books for any webdesigner. You can find it quite cheap, so no reason not to buy it. Check out the authors online articles too.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Right Usability Principles Endure
Comment: Nielsen points out in other studies that usability principles that hit the mark endure the test of time. This particular book is evidence of that, although a second edition targeted at updating examples and discussing recent trends in Web technology (e.g. syndication, the rise of portable devices, the proliferation of broadband Internet access) would be particularly helpful.
If you're short on time and resources, and can only read one book on Web design theories and principles (not coding), this is THE book.
Nielsen breaks Web usability into manageable chunks, starting at the page level, building to site-wide issues of navigation and search.
Sections on intranet design and international audiences are a good introduction, but Nielsen's other work (c.f. www.useit.com) do a much better job of illustrating important design considerations in these areas.
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