Customer Rating:  
Summary: Buy it, Read it, Understand it, but don't treat it as gospel
Comment: Nielsen offers many excellent, authoritative insights into enhancing the usability of websites. Any person designing websites for professional use would definitely benefit from reading this book, though much of what was said could be gained from sites on the net like websitesthatsuck.com. I'd advise listening closely to the general thesis of this book, and not necessarily adhering to all of the specific points. Some of Nielsen's recommendations are a bit extreme (the oft-cited example of link colors). But most of his points are backed by experience and research, and as such are valuable observations which should be heard. Of particular value are his many references to the studies he has performed. Very interesting! The book is also littered with numerous illustrations which help to clarify his points, though his examples do seem to focus more on what doesn't work than what does. And finally, it's amazing to find a book about usability which itself has such a usability flaw. What's up with those big flaps on the inside covers? If they are supposed to be bookmarks, they don't work well. Very annoying. All in all, a good (but not outstanding) book which every web designer should read. You can never get too much education about good website design!
Customer Rating:
Summary: not the practice of simplicity
Comment: This book conatins great tips, about how to make your webpage more usable. The authors main point is the practice of simplicity. The only problem is, that he himself did not practice simlicity. He goes on for pages about a signle topic explaining it from 4 diffrent angles. Nielsen is on target with all of his advice, but there is just not enough information in this book to make it a must buy.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Designer Sin No More
Comment: Jakob Nielsen's Designing Web Usability is a highly readable look at a wide variety of issues affecting usability of web sites. While I didn't agree with every single thing in the book, it does a great job of raising many usability issues that may not come to mind for many designers. In the future, when designing a site, I plan to skim through the book again as a check to make sure I have considered various usability concerns.One thing I have to say, though, get ready for that pang of panic when Jakob points out various usability issues that may just never have crossed your mind and you think of all the site you've got out there right now that violate his "rules." I admit I don't sleep quite as soundly now that my eyes have been opened to all the evil I've done. If you are designing web sites for a living, you need this book just as much as you need a book on the rules of grammer and punctuation if you write for a living. You may not follow every rule on every occasion, but you need a good reference to know what the rules should be.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly the best book on web design ever written
Comment: It takes a little bit of a creative flair to follow Jakob's guidelines yet still manage to have a brand, but otherwise it's a stellar book that contains 99% of the best practices on the web. Best of genre, by far. As users get decreasingly tolerant of long load times, the guidelines in this book will become increasingly apropos.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Comment: I was ready to love this book. Unfortunately, it's so conservative that I'm sending it back. Adhering strictly to these standards leaves little room for innovation. Some good lessons in common sense, but some points seem to go against good design sense. I know people who take the author's word as gospel, and, truly, I wanted to believe. For an alternative, try IDG's Great Web Architecture.
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