Amazon.com
Jennifer Fleming knows that the best way to prove a point is to use a striking example. She loads Web Navigation: Designing the User Experience with quotes and screen shots that deconstruct some of the most fascinating, successful, and innovative sites devised. Fleming also recommends books within Web Navigation's margins that cover the discussed subjects in more depth. Far from distracting, Fleming's style allow the readers to take notes, think about what each site's page is trying to accomplish, and refocus with the author on the topic.
This book makes it clear that there isn't one right pattern to a successful site. In the case of National Geographic online, she sees the way the site guides and educates the user as its main attribute. For CNET, it's the speed at which it presents well-filtered results and reviews. For Garden Escape, it's its commitment to building a community through "simple and easily used forums" while selling supplies. From design basics to concept meetings to Web heuristics, Fleming casts a wide net without diluting her message: focus on the user's experience. --Jennifer Buckendorff
Book Description
Navigation is one of the most important (and least understood) issues in Web site design. Why do so many people get lost on the Web? How can we create more user-centered environments? The answer is by crafting the user experience. This book explores navigation design in depth, covering usability engineering, interface design, lessons from "real life," and more. The first half of the book suggests goals and processes for developing workable navigation schemes. The second half focuses on designing by purpose, with chapters on entertainment, shopping, identity, learning, information, and community sites. Case studies of popular sites help show what works and what doesn't. Throughout the book, interviews with expert such as Clement Mok, Nathan Shedroff, and Jakob Nielsen provide valuable insights. The accompanying CD-ROM includs a tour of selected sites, a "netography," and trial versions of popular software tools.
