Train of Thoughts

This book explores the other side of the Web usability debate. It argues that web sites should be an 'experience' - organised on principles of human psychology, creativity, and understanding to web design.

John Lenker presents his ideas as short nuggets of thought - on average no more than three or four paragraphs each. Its like Web pages. You get the idea? What he offers is basically a critique of Jakob Nielsen's arguments on Web usability testing. Lenker is saying that people spend time on the Web for more than just efficient shopping.




They want to play, have novel visual experiences, and just goof around, hoping that something interesting will turn up. These reflections are interspersed with 'case studies' illustrating examples of sites which offer such experiences - many of which are for very expensive cars. He also punctuates the chapters by adding spotlight interviews with psychologists and media pundits.

He deals with how people learn and how they are persuaded. None of this is translated into how to do it - so don't be misled into thinking that this will teach you how to design a good site. It's more like communication theory applied to Web sites.

One problem is that his prose style comes from the world of the academic treatise. He writes in rather long sentences, full of polysyllabic words and dependent clauses which don't really suit his approach at all. He writes like a sociologist or a psychologist - and in fact that's where his true interest lies.

Interesting media point. The reviews and interviews are really teasers for longer versions on the book's own Web site - with quite frank links on the printed page inviting readers to buy associated books. The web site includes Flash animated illustrations of the concepts discussed, as well as articles that correspond to each chapter. [Turn your speakers down before you go to some of the sites.]

Then comes a critique of Information Architecture - including Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville's magnificent and recently updated Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. Lenker argues that IA is going to disappear, to be replaced by what he calls 'Intelligent Flowpath Management Systems'. These are discussed in the chapters which follow, but the theory always seems a long way from any practice.

All this is presented against a page background of photographs of railways in colour close-up and grainy black and white. It's very stylish and well produced.

There's no doubt it's a serious attempt to offer a new theory of Web communication. Many other reviewers have been excited by what they've seen as a heavyweight intellectual approach - but ultimately I did not find his arguments very illuminating. I suspect that it's the sort of book which professional designers and studios will want to have around on their desks and coffee tables.