Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed

Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed
Average customer rating:

One of the better books available on Website Usability

Excellent Resource!

Great reference and resource for solid design

Nielson disappoints again

detailed critiques of major websites

Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed
Jakob Nielsen , and Marie Tahir
Manufacturer: New Riders Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Website Architecture & Usability | Web Development | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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Designing Web Usability : The Practice of Simplicity

Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition

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Defensive Design for the Web: How to improve error messages, help, forms, and other crisis points (VOICES)

ASIN: 073571102X

Amazon.com

While there is a plethora of books available that provide tips on Web design, most authors leave a significant gap between the theory and practice--a gap that is left up to the reader to fill. Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed boldly steps into that gap with specific observations and suggestions backed with solid quantitative analysis. This book focuses only on home page design as the most important point of presence for any Web site.

This definitive work is coauthored by Jakob Nielsen--the accepted industry expert in Web usability--and Marie Tahir, an expert in user profiling. Their collaboration has produced a guide of such rare practical benefit that Web designers will likely wear out their first copy scouring the pages to savor every last morsel of wisdom.

The book begins with a chapter of precise guidelines that serve as a checklist of the features and functionality to include on your home page. The specifics found in categories such as "revealing content through examples" and "graphic design" will quickly hook you and whet your appetite for more. These guidelines are followed up with hard statistics and an examination of the ominous Jakob's Law: "Users spend most of their time on other sites than your site." Here you'll find some interesting statistics about how various conventions like search, privacy policies, and logos are used.

All this leads up to the showcase element of the book--a systematic deconstruction of 50 of the most popular home pages on the Web. The authors painstakingly pick apart each in an uncompromising autopsy of usability. Each site is graphically analyzed for its use of real estate and summarized with the frankness only found from true experts. Then each section of the home page is bulleted and analyzed for potential improvements.

It's a bold move to offer a critique of industry-standard Web sites such as Yahoo, CNET, and eBay, but the authors have done such a fine job that the designers of those sites will surely make reading this book a high priority. For the rest of us, this work will serve as an invaluable gospel. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: Design guidelines, convention usage, screen real estate, navigation, content presentation, search facilities, links, graphics and animation, advertising, news, customization, and customer feedback.

Book Description

The book begins with a briefing on Jakob's web usability principles, themselves culled from years of research. The 50 sites fall under such categories as Fortune 500 Sites, Highest-Traffic Sites, and E-Commerce Sites. The content is simply presented: Four book pages are devoted to each homepage. The first page is a clean screenshot of the site's homepage (for readers to make their own, unbiased judgments), followed by a page that explains the site's purpose and summarizes its success--or failure--at usabilty. The third and fourth pages are devoted to crtiques, where Jakob and Marie present no-holds-barred commentary for specific usability practices, as well as suggestions for improvement. Although only the homepage of each site is analyzed, many of the critiques can be applied to overall website design.

Customer Reviews:

One of the better books available on Website Usability.......2007-05-21

Homepage Usability presents 50 major websites to artful analysis and thoughtful design criticism much in the way a well written art history overview would examine and catalog an exhibit. I found the book impressive in its exquisite rendering of the visuals, clarity of the markup of items and the writing clear and professional. The greatest compliant this reviewer has with the book is a keyword in its subtitle - deconstructed. The book would have been more useful if a set of guidelines and conclusions were more clearly presented rather than being distributed though the book. Perhaps in a revised edition or a companion volume the authors could take the experience and analysis gathered and and present it in the context of human factors engineering and webpage usability. Still despite these shortcomings, the book is important and clear in what it does accomplish - it is not a slap-dash effort - it stands out as well done. There is still need for a constructivist book on the subject. Much like the core web language HTML the details are overwhelming and structure sorely lacking - Homepage Usability does not simply elicit principles of web design. It is a benchmark to publishers that quality writing in the computer industry is possible.

Excellent Resource!.......2007-04-14

For that homepage that snaps and attracts design in Internet 'real estate': covering navigation, music, content, identity recognition employing elements of type, pictures, spacing, priority signals, coloring-- looks at the MOST visited sites such as Disney, ebay, amazon and MTV. 50 different sites with several pages devoted to each site. 320 pages all in color in beautiful book layout with points of reference for easy-to-compare pros and cons one site to another.

Great reference and resource for solid design.......2006-11-25

While the content here is somewhat dated today, the lessons within are timeless. Each website reviewed and taken apart shows you exactly why some elements don't work and why others do. Then, when put back together, visually it shows you how it should have been done day one. Not only the 'how' but the 'why' as well. This is a great guide to keep by your desk if you design websites regularly.

Nielson disappoints again.......2006-01-10

Admittedly, I've been biased against Nielson's works since the publication of `Designing Web Usability' in 1999; finding his tendency to oversimplify and `deconstruct' rather ineffectual. And as usual, `Homepage Usability' disappoints as an overly sensational and inaccurate evaluation of homepage usability. There are good parts, in particular, the statistics you may want to reference for your own usability initiatives. But the `50 webpages deconstructed' portion is not much more than Nielson spewing hot air. If you learn (or are entertained) best through critique by an impossible standard and ideal, by all means, this book is for you. If you are looking for a USABLE and real life guide to homepage design, look elsewhere.

detailed critiques of major websites.......2005-12-01

This book excels in giving detailed critiques of the home pages of 50 prominent websites. These include Microsoft, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, General Electric and Boeing. The websites span the gamut from appealing to a mass audience, like Amazon and MTV, to more specialised corporate sites like GE.

The authors offer incisive comments. All the more valuable for not being always complimentary. They show how even a large company can have flaws in its home page. Take GE for example. Its page has a "Buy Online" section. But it is mostly misleading. The links in that section point to such items as aircraft, which you cannot buy online.

The websites were captured several years ago. So it's quite possible that if you go to their current addresses, the pages are different. Yet the analysis in the book is still instructive. It should also be noted that the unusual shape of the book might be misleading. From the outside, it looks like a coffeetable type book. Full of glossy images. It does indeed have the latter. But these are high resolution screen captures that enhance the visual nature of the pages and their analyses.

If you are designing your own website, try going first through this book, for inspiration.

A Kid's Guide to Creating Web Pages for Home and School

Average customer rating:

An excellent primer for young (and old)

A Kid's Guide to Creating Web Pages for Home and School
Benjamin Selfridge , and Peter Selfridge
Manufacturer: Zephyr Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Internet | Computers | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

School & Education | Reference & Nonfiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
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Web Design for Teens
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ASIN: 1569761809

Book Description

Most students are familiar with the World Wide Web, but few are familiar with the primary underlying technology that makes it possible: HTML. A Kid’s Guide to Creating Web Pages for Home and School is designed for those who have grown up with computers but who have never had the chance to create their own web sites. Written by a kid for kids, this book leads students step-by-step through the basic functionalities of HTML, all with an inquisitive, friendly tone that encourages experimentation. Each section focuses on a specific project and includes sample computer screens to demonstrate the basic site being developed. Once practiced and learned, the individual projects and lessons are integrated into a single web site that can be "published" on the web. Also included are more advanced techniques for web page design, including sound, animation, and the uses of Javascript, Java, and Flash, as well as off- and online resources for readers to investigate.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent primer for young (and old).......2007-09-22

I just finished reading "A Kid's Guide to Creating Web Pages" by Benjamin and Peter Selfridge and I highly recommend it for the following reasons:

1. It is written in crystal clear and friendly language.

2. You will be able to create a web page easily and successfully.

3. You will understand what you did to create the web page (in other words, the authors try to explain what each step accomplishes).

4. The guide is just the right length (not a 1,000 page computer language text) and is laid out in a pleasant fashion with lots of examples and explanations.

5. Once you create a simple web page, the authors gently introduce many other exciting things you can do to enhance your design.

6. This book accomplishes what it promises and in addition it wets your appetite for more!

7. This is a perfect beginners guide for young and old (the prose is not infantilizing or obnoxious)

Buy it and try the examples when you have time and when you do not have a lot of distractions or interruptions--the more success you have the first time out, the more you will want to keep trying.

Fastread Build a Home Page: Understand the Basics of Web Design in No Time! (Fastread)

Average customer rating:

Fastread Build a Home Page: Understand the Basics of Web Design in No Time! (Fastread)

Manufacturer: Adams Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1580625088

Book Description

If you've ever visited a great Web site and thought, "Hey, I could do that," here's your chance! Building your own Web site is simple, and fastread Build a Home Page will teach anyone just how easy it can be. From basic, text-only pages to advanced, graphics-intensive sites, you can find your place on the Internet with just a few minutes of time. fastread Build a Home Page includes:

The elements of a good home page

How to maintain and improve your site

Layout and design tips

Choosing a Web host

How to register with search engines

Amazon.com

Teach Yourself to Create a Home Page in 24 Hours provides Web novices with simple, useful techniques for creating and publishing Web pages. You use Claris Home Page 2.0 Lite, a Web-page creation package for Windows 95, Windows NT, and Macintosh, to create and edit a sample Web page complete with links and images. The software is included on the CD-ROM that comes with the book, along with sample files, Web graphics, Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 for Windows and Macintosh, and Web-page templates.

Although Claris Home Page shields you from HTML coding and lets you create pages in an almost WYSIWIG environment, there's some guidance on using HTML to tweak your pages. You also learn how to use interesting and appropriate text effects and color schemes, create tables and lists, and add animations, movies, and Java applets to your pages. Finally, the author tells you how to plan and publish your own site.

Customer Reviews:

Easy to understand, great examples, excellent CD.......1999-08-06

I purchased this book because I was familar with other SAMS 24 Hour texts. The book is well written with lots of good examples, a very useful CD with a working, no limitations, web page editor, and the author and publisher have excellent support via telephone or on their web pages. If you buy one book on creating a home page and you do not want to learn the technical ins and outs of webmastering, make that book this book.

Great for Beginners.......1998-09-23

This book has proved helpful in creating my first home page. Although the book talks mainly about how to use the software, there is a breif bit on HTML and where to host and advertise your page. The software included, (Claris Home Page Lite 2.0) is very easy to use, and good for beginners. If your looking to get your feet wet, I'd recommend this book.

The most boring, dry read I have ever encountered........1998-08-23

This book greatly disappointed me. The book does include a CD with a web page design program on it. That would have proven useful had I opened it. I read the book through, first, and was not able to keep awake. I have found that the book serves me only one good purpose; a drink coaster for my computer desk.

Excellent for beginners, but followup difficult to find.......1998-06-13

My only adverse comment lies in Appendix A to this book. There is a reference to the Heavy Version (Claris Home Page 2.0) that I would like to review. I cannot find it in bookstores, nor in the internet. e-mail to the author and the publisher have not been answered. I understand that the name Claris has been renamed Filemaster, or something like that. Otherwise the book has easily helped me to to learn how to construct a web page. R.S.

Excellent.. easy to read and understand........1997-11-15

I found the tutorials easy, none of them actually took me an hour to get through. I knew nothing about HTML, and yet I had my web page published over a weekend. The free Claris Home Page software was easy to install and use... I would recommend this title to anyone wanting to try building a page.

The Everything Build Your Own Home Page Book: Create a Site You'll Be Proud Of, Without Becoming a Programmer (Everything Series)

Average customer rating:

The Everything Build Your Own Home Page Book: Create a Site You'll Be Proud Of, Without Becoming a Programmer (Everything Series)
Mark Binder , and Beth Helman
Manufacturer: Adams Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Web Site Graphics: Home Page & Splash Page: The Best Works on the Web

Average customer rating:

The series is a ripoff
Great Imagery if you're looking for inspiration

Web Site Graphics: Home Page & Splash Page: The Best Works on the Web
Richard Karl Danielson
Manufacturer: Rockport Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

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Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 1564967239

Book Description

The Web Site Graphics series presents some of the best Web site design work being created today. Selected by designers for designers, each book in the series focuses on an important facet of graphic design online: together the collection is a terrific, affordable resource of Web site design inspiration.

Web Site Graphics: Homepage and Splashpage presents over a hundred Web sites with homepages and splashpages that work. Each design is accompanied by in-depth text examining what works and why, describing colon graphics, typography, and tables, as well as technical and design issues relating specifically to the Web. As well as featuring real Web sites which will inspire both professional and amateur designers, this book provides tricks and techniques from professional Web designers for creating homepages that make a splash.

Customer Reviews:

The series is a ripoff.......2001-08-03

I knew very well that when I bought this book it was only for inspiration. And that's all it is. But when I purchased the other book in the series "Navigation 2" site unseen, I got ... .... This book contains approximately 75% of the Splashpage book. Image for image. The people from Rockport should be ashamed for trying to pull such .... I won't even attempt to look at the rest of the series.

As far as the review. There is no "in-depth" text examining the pages. 1 paragraph of someones opinion of how it looks.

Also the publisher review states "Offers inspiration as well as informative text on the design process and tools used to achieve the final design."

Uh-no. There is no mention of design process or tools used.

This is just my opinion. I could be wrong.

Great Imagery if you're looking for inspiration.......2001-01-17

In my web design work, I'm constantly looking for ideas. This entire series of books is filled with screen shots of hundreds of interesting web sites (including URLs so you can visit the sites displayed). Text is limited to brief captions on each site. If you are looking for a "how to" book, forget this. This book is for visual inspiration and stimulation only. But's that's a big 'only'. I own perhaps a dozen books of web imagery, but this series is easily the best for the price. If you need visual inspiration for web design, you can't go wrong.

Claris Home Page 3 for Windows & Macintosh (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Average customer rating:

Absolutely Essential
This book delivers on its promise.
This book delivers on its promise.
This book was very helpful and easy to read.
i need to know

Claris Home Page 3 for Windows & Macintosh (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Richard Fenno
Manufacturer: Peachpit Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Desktop Publishing | Apple | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Networking | Microsoft | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Design, edit, and publish dynamic Web pages quickly and easily without any programming using Claris's Web authoring tool--Claris Home Page. Using this Visual QuickStart Guide, you can be up and running in no time whether you're using a Mac or a PC. The step-by-step examples and numerous illustrations and screen dumps will enable you to use simple drag-and-drop techniques to quickly enter, format, and edit text and add graphics, photographs, sounds, and video.

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely Essential.......2005-10-09

HomePage 3.0 is an older program but it has the advantage of being cross-platform (meaning Mac and PC) on the same disk. I have made a dozen websites using it and it is a wonder to behold. Newer standards have overtaken the WWW so not all of the new functions are integrated into it.

It has a first rate tutorial on the disk which can help you to make perfectly decent small websites. However, this book is the perfect manual to go along with that tutorial. In fact I think it is essential to own this book so that you can address problems as they arise without having to bounce around between the program, the Help, and the tutorial.

As with most of the Visual Quickstart series, this one is filled with pictures so that those of us who cannot grab the meaning from the text alone can guide ourselves with the screenshots showing what the text just spoke of.

I recommend both this program and this book to my students who wish to build their own websites, even though both the book and the program are out of print.

This book delivers on its promise........1999-08-12

This book was very helpful getting me up and running and doing what I wanted to do--make my website. It was also helpful in stepping me through publishing my first database on FileMaker Pro. I would reccomend it to anyone wanting to use Home Page. I should say that Home Page is a very easy to use, but powerful program. It is quite intuitive. This book just happens to make it even easier to use. I just kept it on my desk and if I hit a snag it would unsnag me.

This book delivers on its promise........1999-08-12

This book was very helpful getting me up and running and doing what I wanted to do--make my website. It was also helpful in steping me through publishing my first database on FileMaker Pro. I would reccomend it to anyone wanting to use Home Page. I should say that Home Page is a very easy to use, but powerful program. It is quite intuitive. This book just happens to make it even easier to use. I just kept it on my desk and if I hit a snag it would unsnag me.

This book was very helpful and easy to read........1999-07-14

I found this book very understandable and full of explanations. It summarized much of what the help menu in Claris Homepage offered, but showed detailed diagrams and steps on how to complete the functions for most web page design. I recommend this to any beginner with Claris Homepage to use as a basis to learn the program and understand the buttons and capabilities of the total program.

i need to know.......1999-04-17

i need to know how to make a web page for 5$ if any one can give me instructions how to make a page mail me them thanks. p.s.hoss8617@aol.com

Average customer rating:

Book is very easy to follow
a poorly written book on a brilliant program
Not enough for satisfaction
Might be a good reference for experieced HTML users

Claris Home Page Companion
Maria Langer
Manufacturer: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

MIS | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Desktop Publishing | Apple | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Mac Administration | Apple | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

Book is very easy to follow.......2001-11-29

Before I moved up into the wonders of DreamWeaver, I used Claris Home Page to design my sites. And really, compared to other WYSIWYGs out there like Front Page or PageMill, Claris Home Page wasn't such a bad little tool! This book more than adequately explained how to use the program, and I always found its instructions thorough and well written.

a poorly written book on a brilliant program.......1999-09-30

I bought this book full of expectations, but I felt really let down. The first problem was the sheer size which meant I could not hold it and read it, rather I had to keep it flat on a table... no reading in bed. It really turns a simple yet powerful programme into a complex and difficult task. It really was a disaster for me yet despite it I got my web page up and running using the text help on the Claris Home Page disk.

Not enough for satisfaction.......1997-12-24

The book picks up where the manual left off. What I would have liked to see was more examples of the use of the program, URLs of resource sites and perhaps a CD of useful images, utilities etc.
It's OK, but...

Might be a good reference for experieced HTML users.......1997-10-10

Claris Home Page Companion, by Maria Langer is an okay book for the experienced user who is looking for advice on how to fine-tune a web page. I bought it thinking it would be a good book for an HTML beginner (me), but it does not give enough dtailed examples. I was looking for something that would show me a page and then show the code that created that page. This book does not do that, it talks a lot about coding and shows the results, but does not explain how the results were achieved.

Average customer rating:

Not Worth 1 dollar

Design Your Own Home Page
Molly E. Holzschlag , and Molly Holzschlag
Manufacturer: AVA Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Take a look at the most inspired pages on the Web today—and then create your own. With a focus on contemporary style and content, this guide looks beyond the home page to consider the revolutions it has encouraged, especially Web togs and independent publishing. Filled with tips, tricks, and wisdom, it covers your homepage toolbox, building the foundations, site structure, adding content, and fashioning the page. Plus: build on this information so you can even do collaborative Web pages.

Customer Reviews:

Not Worth 1 dollar.......2006-03-01

I read this entire book, cover to cover, in 2 hours. It was like reading the first paragraph of each chapter in a 'real' book on how to build web pages. Visually, the book was beautiful, and would make a nice coffee table book at Bill Gates house. But, don't waste your money. Check it out from the library, or read the book at the bookstore if you must.

Average customer rating:

Home Page Design: Internet

Manufacturer: Books Nippan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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