Recommended reading: Web site usability
The Art and Science of Web Design
A very intelligent book on Web site design and development. While intended for designers, there's a lot in here for business managers who want to understand how altering the layout and structure of a Web site can fundamentally change how users interact with it. This books covers top-level stuff like site planning and structure and low-level topics such as the most effective way to organise a search box, and when navigation tabs work and when they have outlived their usefulness. A great book, well-written and very approachable, only marred by demonstrating layout techniques that use tables instead of Cascading Style Sheet Positioning. Still highly recommended.
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The Big Red Fez
Not even the big boys on the Web get it right, as Seth Godin is quick to point out. This low-priced book is an excellent investment which will have you jumping up and down on your seat shouting 'yes, he's right!!' According to Godin, anyone building a Web site should think of every visitor as a monkey - a monkey in a big red fez. Monkeys want to know one thing: Where's the banana? If the banana isn't easy to see and easy to get, the monkey is as good as gone. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to get the banana right there, in sight of all your visitors. Fun, but with some lessons for us all.
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Don't Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
One of our favourite Web usability books, Don't Make Me Think is full of sensible, practical advice - and lots of 'wow!' moments (not to mention d'oh! moments, when you slap your head with the realisation that you're impeding your Web visitors progress within what you thought was a cut widget). Anyone with a Web site should at least browse through this book to see if their site is making some of the more obvious mistakes. Anyone with a Web site that's a core part of their business should have a copy of this on their shelves - and read it. Anyone who is a Web designer should be punished for not reading it. The only caveat is that some recommendations may cut across accessibility requirements, so some judgment is needed in certain cases.
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Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity
If you're delving into Web usability, this is one book that you simply can't ignore - the original Web usability book, from the leader in the field. Take with a little caution, though. Nielsen is an academic who sees the Web through an academic's eyes and often doesn't see the role that good design (or any design) has to play in the presentation of information. In that light, this book is often wrongly upheld as a usability bible. Its strengths, though, far outnumber its weaknesses. This book is a real eye-opener, based on objective research and largely sound reasoning, it shows how people interact with Web pages and what can be done to make them more 'usable' - so that people can find what they are looking for faster and easier. An essential read, with a word of caution about Nielsen's conservatism. Despite its flaws, this remains the book on Web usability.
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Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed
We both love and hate this book. We hate it because it's all too easy to take a snipe at others' Web sites and, in the absence of their creators' defence, pass high criticism. It smacks a little at laughing at the defenseless fat boy for eating too much. We love it, because there is so much value in looking at leading Web sites and seeing what could be done differently to change the way that they work. It's actually an excellent read, and really makes you think about the many ways that information can be presented over the Web. Seeing usability issues come to live in Web sites that we know so well is a very relevant way of learning more about the topic. Again, though, Nielsen has a somewhat myopic view - for example, marketing sites 'down' that use extensive white space, because that space could be more effectively used for content - when any good designer will tell you that space is actually the essential container for content that creates focus as well as mood. It would be fun to 'deconstruct' Nielsen's own Web site - which in our opinion is not only one of the dullest/ugliest sites on the Web, but is also a navigation nightmare. All that said, this is an essential book for the usability buff. Its challenging stance is exactly what all businesses need to keep tuning and improving their Web sites. A great way to learn about accessibility.
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Son of Web Pages That Suck
Just like 'homepage usability' this book aims to teach good Web design and usability by showcasing the worst of the Web. However, it's much more fun than Nielsen's worthy tome, drawing you in with a language of gentle ridicule. Our favourite is the concept of 'mystery meat navigation' where visitors have to guess what's a navigation item and what isn't. The Web designers might have thought it was fun, the client went along for the ride, but guess what? The bemused visitor just clicks away to a different site. Lots of fun - just pray that your Web site isn't in here. (This is the follow-up to 'Web Pages That Suck' but there's no real need to read the earlier book first.)
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User-Centered Web Design
A practical guide to designing more-effective Web sites - with the focus strongly around the needs of the end user. This book helps you understand what it takes to create Web sites that are easy to navigate. Caro strikes a strong balance between the theoretical and the practical, providing a good methodology for ensuring that Web pages present visitors with the most relevant information, in the most relevant way.
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