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Author: Jakob Nielsen
 
See it on Amazon
 Jakob Nielsen is not the kind of guy to 'beat around the bush' with anything. He became famous (and infamous) when he wrote an article called Flash: 99% Bad. Flash-lovers and Flash designers alike were quickly offended. Flash-loathers, and those who were just plain sick of the constant misuse of Flash, rejoiced.
I am a Flash designer. Why did I read his book? Very simply put: Nielsen is right on with most of his points. Flash is a great tool, but most Flash designers don't know how to use it. A website is only great to the point that people are able to use it. This book starts from the very beginnings of laying out a plan for a website and gives tips and direction to make it not only visually appealing, but usable as well.
One of the biggest problems is that people will get to a site and not know what to do. The web designers have left it a mystery. Nielsen uses examples from the Internet and discusses what works and what does not. Some of the biggest names on the Internet will make both right and wrong moves in their web design. Using these examples and providing in-depth explanations helps the reader to visualize the principles that Nielsen sets forth.
This book covers a long range of topics including page design, content development, site design, accessibility for the disabled, and designing for international use. Surprisingly, I was humbled to realize I had not considered all of these when designing sites in the past.
Nielsen also discusses the difference between designing for printed media and designing for the web. This is a much-needed division as many who have dealt primarily with print in the past are now being used as web designers and the demands of the two fields are independent and unique from one another.
Nobody's Perfect
Yes, even Jakob Nielsen is not perfect. The book contains a chapter on Intranet Design that barely skims the surface on a topic that really needs its own book since designing for the general public and designing for ones employees require different approaches. For those of us who do nothing with intranets and thought we were buying a book on "web" usability, not "intranet" usability, this chapter is a waste time.
The chapter entitled "Future Predictions" is a bit ho-hum, and seems misplaced in this book. Most of the 'predictions' really don't have anything to do with web usablity and would have been better served as banter at the local bar rather than a book for professional designers.
Overall this is a great book. Whether you are a writer, editor, programmer, or designer - you will benefit from reading this book and so will the visitors of your website, which in the end means you will be doing better business.
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