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Average customer rating:

Some padding in this one
Introducing Designers to Web-Design Issues
Learn from examples
Designind websites tailored to your users
Tremendously useful book!

Designing Websites for Every Audience
Ilise Benun
Manufacturer: How Design Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 158180301X

Book Description

An excellent resource for all emerging and established Web designers, this book provides detailed analysis about what works and what doesn't when it comes to usability.

More than 20 examples of well-known Web sites are profiled to illustrate good and bad design and functionality, outlining clear guidelines for meeting the end user's needs. The first half of the book covers key topics related to solid Web design, including:

Common traits of user-friendly Web sites Typography selections for optimum readability Page layouts that promote quick downloading, easy scrolling and clear navigation

The second half of the book is made up of detailed analyses of Web sites that have been designed or made over with usability in mind. They are grouped into six categories, according to the goals each user has: Learners, Browsers, Shoppers, Connection-seekers, Transactors and Entertainment-seekers. This book gives readers the insider information they need to design usable Web sites for any audience.

Customer Reviews:

Some padding in this one.......2006-11-29

This book gives you the basics of usability from a visual
design perspective, and lots of resources for learning more in chapter 1. The
rest of the chapters talked about all these different websites and broke them
down to laymen's terms for the reader to understand, but really, I feel this
book could have been 105 pages shorter. Just take away chapter 2-7, rewrite
them because it just took you to different web pages, and explain how each of
them functioned and told the reader about the site.

Chapter 1- Why does Usability
Matter?

The chapter explains how to construct a website around good
design and usability, but also around what people like.

Chapter 2- Learners

The author takes you to five separate websites through a
learners/researchers perspective. It breaks down each website in a way we
understand, but all it does is describe the websites.

Chapter 3- Shoppers

Chapter 3 takes you to several more websites except this
time it is through a shopper's point of view. It breaks down the websites by
using them as examples for the reader to use.

Chapter 4- Connection Seekers

The basis of chapter four is once again a basic over of five
more website, but through a person who is looking to make a connection. This
chapter does the same thing as chapters two and three; it just overviews
different websites.

Chapter 5- Transactors

This time chapter five goes to more websites, but through a transactor's
perspective and talks about what they are looking for.

Chapter 6- Business Browsers

Chapter 6 explains what business browser looks for and what
goals they have when they log onto a webpage.

Chapter 7- Fun Seekers

The basis of chapter seven explains three more web pages
through the eyes of a fun seeker. Fun seekers just wish to spend leisure time
exploring quality entertainment on the web.

I did not read this book to know about all of these
different websites, I was hoping to see if it showed how to build a website
from the ground up. Chapter 1 was very informative though, and was actually
very helpful. The section that outlined the general principles for web design
was very fulfilling and helpful because it takes you step by step to design a
user-friendly web page.

Introducing Designers to Web-Design Issues.......2003-09-10

First of all let it be said that this clearly IS an attractive, creatively designed book. Judging from the reviews (below) it has a lot of appeal for professional designers.
Keep in mind that it is NOT primarily a technology how-to book. And yet there ARE some helpful clues to get a designer-new-to-web thinking about issues of how to implement pleasing, effective web sites: what is "Flash"? a "blog"? CSS? (cascading style sheets) ...there are "browser compatibility" issues?
But once you've been alerted to some of these technology quandries you'll quickly need to turn to further education elsewhere. Fortunately, Benun has a nice selection of sites, forums, and publications listed at the back for your reference.
If you are already well-versed in the technologies of the web, you may find that you can learn most of what Benun offers through a cursory scanning at the library. Certainly the sites (25 of them) discussed here are NOT analyzed "in depth" -- the book is only 144pp after all. Offering a new way to think about the TYPE of audience(s) for which a site is designed is a nice contribution on Benun's part (see elaboration in others' reviews).
If you are just beginning your design enterprise you may be upset to have laid out this much money for just a few starting ideas. For economy's sake you may want to browse a wide selection (and it is wide) at a library or book shop.

Learn from examples.......2003-09-04

Many people learn by example. When reading documentation explaining the features of functionality, it doesn't always make sense until seeing it in action. For instance, in CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) font type is explained as:

{
font-family:
}

That isn't going to make much sense to many of you even if you know CSS. What if I gave you an example of:

{
font-family: verdana, arial, georgia, sans-serif;
}

Obviously, the is represented by the font names separated by commas with the first font taking priority. If the user's computer doesn't have verdana, then it tries arial and so on until it finds a font loaded on the user's computer.

Designing Websites for Every Audience starts with a chapter on usability with a focus on understanding users and the principles of usability. That's the only lecture of the book and the rest is case studies.

The book has 25 case studies sorted by user goals, which include learners, shoppers, connection-seekers, transactors, business browsers, and fun-seekers. Each case study covers the old site and the transition to the new design. Essentially, a before and after, which is popular these days with interior design TV programs.

The case study pages are easy to scan. Every one has the company information, site information, users with their goals and tasks, goals of the redesign, and pictures. Benum uses a variety of Web sites for the case studies and discusses the problems with the old design. Then, she analyzes the new design explaining the common traps that have been disposed of and the action taken to improve the user experience.

The book is beautifully colored including color screenshots of the designs. This is a good and a bad thing. Some of the side notes have a color background with black font making it hard to read, but this is the only negative thing in the book after all it impacts the usability of reading the book.

We have plenty of excellent books on how to improve the user experience when designing Web pages, but there are few that guide you through actual examples. Any Web designer who learns by example will want this one on the desk for referencing when working on a redesign.

Designind websites tailored to your users.......2003-05-30

There are a lot of books on the market today that teach website design. Very few teach the importance of creating a web site that is friendly and usable so the visitor has a positive experience and wants to come back. "Designing Websites for Every Audience" falls into that second category. It does not teach HTML or CSS or anything like that but what it does teach is much more important - how to create a website that people can use and want to return to time after time.

The beginning of the book covers pretty typical usability information, but starting with Chapter 2 the book separates itself from the crowd. At this point Ilise Benum starts several chapters that not only discuss web site design but also tailors that discussion to specific types of users. A website designed for learners should be different from one designed for shoppers, or one designed for transactors, or one designed for business browsers. Ilise Benum goes through these and other user types as she discusses how websites should be designed just for them.

Using specific examples from existing websites, she discusses usability factors before and after changing them. Complete with multiple detailed illustrations and analysis it is a highly recommended book.

Tremendously useful book!.......2003-05-08

This 144-page paperback is tremendously useful for web designers looking for both inspiration and instruction. The before-and-after redesigns of 25 different real-world web sites are examined in depth, with the design goals, user profiles, thoughtful observations, and unexpected discoveries enhanced through the use of full color screen shots. The chapters are organized by six different audience profiles, so no matter what type of site you're developing--commercial, community, educational, entertainment--you're bound to find tons of applicable ideas and expert knowledge upon which to draw.

Average customer rating:

Designing Websites for Every Audience
Ilise Benun
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MU9PZO

Books:

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