Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed

After reading some of the reviews here, I almost didn't buy this book. But I'm glad I did. I agree that some people might find some of the critiques nit-picking. I also agree that the authors are not qualified to give copywriting advice.But the point about exclamation marks on the homepage is a good one. They are overused. I've overused them myself. And they do make a page look like so much hype in many cases. Copywriters get carried away with hype and the web is no place for that.I don't think we can take anyone's advice in total all the time. But I can tell you this. After I read only a few pages in this book I saw changes that I needed to make.After looking at the critiques in the book, I can easily see the small very fine details that can make all the difference in the world in usability and, moreover, in marketing.Jakob does extensive testing with real people and I have a lot of faith in his findings. His word is not the last word. But I trust him and I think people who are involved with designing or writing Web sites should read what he writes.They don't have to agree with everything. But not to read him would be a mistake.The changes I've made due to his advice have paid big dividends. I don't hold 100 percent to everything he says. But I believe I have a site that is very user-friendly in part because I apply his principals and I pass them on to my clients.If people would just read the intricate detail in each critique, they would see what one small change could make and why it should be done the way the authors suggest.I would have given the book five stars but the book itself had some misspelled words and it used the word "website" instead of "Web site" which is the accepted way to write it. I don't necessarily blame the authors for that. It was probably a low level editor who let those errors happen. But they shouldn't be there. Especially in a slick, well designed book and a book about usability and perfection.But to anyone involved in making decisions about a Web site --- especially designers and copywriters --- I highly recommend this book.Susanna K. HutchesonOwner and Executive Copy DirectorPowerwriting.com LLC

This is Jakob Nielsen's more pragmatic follow-up book to 'Designing Web Usability'. The book is divided into two parts. In the first half, Nielsen presents 113 guidelines for designing home pages derived from research conducted by the Nielsen/Norman Group. The second half (and bulk of the book) consists of the practical application of these guidelines in the analysis of 50 website homepages. The 113 guidelines are excellent, summarizing a great deal of HCI research and will be beneficial to anyone designing websites. The second half starts off strong with insightful narratives as Nielsen deconstructs each homepage, clearly illustrating the guidelines. However, after reading about ten or so of the critiques, they become quite monotonous, as each homepage clearly makes the same mistakes as the prior one. If you can manage to get through the deja vu, then the 113 guidelines will surely be imprinted in your brain and on your work.

The value of this book comes from the sheer volume of insight it contains: Jakob and Marie leave no stone unturned listing all the things that make for well-designed home pages.A few downsides:- The home page reviews are comprehensive, but the "problems" the authors find get somewhat repetitive after a while. In fact, after reading through about 20 reviews I was able to find more than half of the "problems" before reading the review (simply by looking at the screnshots).- Another thing the authors could have done to make the reviews more useful: separate serious problems from trivial ones instead of listing them all in a single list.Conclusion:While the book does have its quirks, it is a solid reference overall and will make a great addition to any web designer's library.

Until you have pointed out how popular websites have horrible flaws you just don't notice it. We rarely see good sites (and the distinguish quality of a good site is you don't get distracted and notice it is good) so it is hard to expect better. But this book insightfully shows what is wrong with websites. Once we see what's wrong we can recognize it and then we can FIX it.Even though a lot of this is on what not to do, getting those basic errors fixed may make this the best book I've ever seen on how to make a GOOD website, or at least improve any web site.

The homepage is the most important component of any website. Even if the user does not enter the through it, it generally does not take him or her long to navigate there. Its function is to communicate the company is and its value.In their private consulting practice, the authors charge $10,000 to perform a usability review. Knowing that many cannot afford their services, Jakob Nielsen and Marie Tahir distill their consulting experience into 113 guidelines for designing homepages that work for you and your users. The resulting book is not limited to theory.The second part applies the principles to 50 websites. Here the reader is confronted with the complications that confront designers. The big, colorful and nicely printed reproductions of the homepages drive home the points made in the first section in a simple manner. The negative impact of ignoring the 113 principles is effectively made.The homepage is often the first, and all too often, the last chance to chance to attract and retain your user. Compared to the $500,000 cost of ordering 50 site reviews, this book is a bargain. Considering the impact losing even one customer can have on your business, this book is essential.

The book that push me to learn more and understanding of the important of UX & UI design.

A good book showing (mostly) what NOT to do via examples of public web sites (often a sequence over time.). Insightful

DON'T BUY THIS BOOK! It's outdated. The 50 websites have ALL been completely redesigned, if they even exist today. Nothing in this book was helpful. Homepage Usability: 50 Websites DeconstructedHomepage Usability

An interesting book to be sure. I would imagine when this came out 15 years ago it was the be all and end all of designing a website. What works and what does not. Where to place your logo. It is good as a historical document and allows you to see the evolution of the website. Currently it is 15 years out of date. So you get what you pay for in the price. Probably worth £3 with P&P.

This book was published in 2001. And websites have certainly changed since then.However, I think that this book is going to be useful for me for one of my degree course modules. It certainly gives food for thought in the field of web design.

... it has8 years and it shows at times. Most standards are still commom and making the web more usable is certainly a valid effort. I found however that this book is a bit dated. This could be of no importance if the "companion website" (as it is called) had any useful content but it is not so. The book mentions several links that seem to indicate additional content, as it is now so commom but once you get there it is just an invitation to spend a couple of hundred dollars buying the report or whatever. I tried several of these links all to the same effect. For someone who is so prompt criticising the usability of other web sites I found their site confusing and just one big effort to make you buy something with no useful content of its own. Overall I found the book a lot less useful than antecipated.

Recommended this first class book as the set text for the e-government course I was teaching

Jakob Nielson has set out his stall to be the voice of science and reason in web design and, in the past, I have found a lot of his advice helpful. However this book strays into dangerous territory because he exposes his detailed thinking and there are enough cases where his prescription misses the point about the message and audience for a particular website to convice me this emperor is only half-clad. The approach to the book is very much a box ticking exercise, you can't help feeling that this is a cheap way to fill a few hundred pages and get another title out. Nielson and Tahir analyse a lot of (relatively similar) websites and reading soon becomes a grind, each page I turned I hoped I would learn or see something new but after a while I realised I was on a bus tour of the ordinary and I was unlikely to find any significant insights.