Customer Rating:  
Summary: Must-read for Web Devs
Comment: The teachings in this book are critical in developing a web site (particularly one that is Line-of-Business focused) that will drive repeat visits. The most important lessons learned: (1) Don't break the browser model, (2) Know your users' needs and design the site to accommodate them, and (3) Learn how people read screens and design pages to surface the most important content in a page or site.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Where's the beef
Comment: Pablum served up as science with no practical scenarios or examples to back up the author's theories. Sort of like reading Freud and wondering when we are going to get to Skinner.
Customer Rating:
Summary: worthwhile but stodgy
Comment: This book is widely regarded as a web usability classic. Not everyone loves it, though. Opinions range from "he is a genius" to "the book is obsolete".The book is bigger than it need be. Nielsen argues strongly that web sites should be concise, but that doesn't carry over into his writing. In several places a paragraph or two seemed very familiar, having been used several chapters earlier. There are lots of colour screenshots of web pages, mostly to point out flaws. I agree with most of what he says: Make things simple, easy and effective for users; make your pages download as fast as you can; provide a site search and so on. Where he lets himself down is in speculating about what the internet might be like five, ten or even twenty years from now. This is a complete waste; I got fed up wading through it. It's also too heavy on opinion and too light on practical detail for me. Nielsen claims he plans to write a "how to" book sometime, but that's no use right now. The section on internationalization, for example, tantalizingly mentions a few things (US switches go "up" for "ON", European ones go "down"; don't use baseball metaphors etc.) then leaves it up to the reader with very little further help. Well worth absorbing, but I won't often dip into it again. Unless you are a collector, borrow it rather than buying.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Jakob Nielsen is da man ... wait ... the man
Comment: For information on web usability and perspective of a real pro, give this book a shot. Many designers get caught up in the glitz of FLASH and the complication of endlessly nested tables that they cut out a valuable group of users. The book is careful not to disparage design focused sites but adds a bit of reality to the purpose of web standards and the true intent of the internet. While the publishing date is a bit aged, the principles are sound. Overall, a good addition to any developers library.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A lot of good sense.
Comment: By thinking of a website as an interface instead of a means to directly deliver entertainment or complex content the value of the Jakob Nielsens's guidelines becomes more obvious. Browser incompatibility issues, unsupported file types, and the prevalence of modem dial-up-connections makes the internet and website design a challenge. Simple and usable websites are an even bigger challenge, which is why too few exist. But what a refreshing relief they are when happened upon. If more websites adhered to the Jakob Nielsen way of thinking ( as it is mine ) the internet would be much more useful. Steve Krug's `Don't Make Me Think' should also be read, and digested.
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