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Homepage Usability50 websites deconstructedrigorous examination of big commercial websites This is the latest broadside from usability guru Jakob Nielsen - well known for his radical and uncompromising views on Web design. It's a follow-up to his best-selling Designing Web Usability. What he does here is spell out the basic principles of what makes a Web page efficient - then he applies these principles to fifty commercial sites.
There have been criticisms of this approach - for instance, that he assumes an aggressive commercial model as the norm. But what if your site is a walk-through gallery, or a portfolio of work, rather than an e-Commerce site like Ford or Amazon. Surely the same 'guidelines' would not apply. In each analysis he shows the client's home page and describes it across a double page spread. Just occasionally he might even sprinkle a few words of praise. Then he pulls it apart bit by bit - showing where the designers are going wrong. The secret of his approach is attention to fine detail. He looks at the small print (literally and metaphorically) checking even the font, its size, its colour, and its position on the page. I think you could argue with some parts of his methodology. For instance, in his statistical breakdown of screen real estate (how much space each topic occupies) he puts portal listings and niche product details into the same category. Then in some cases a list of category links might be rated lowly, whereas in others blatant advertising copy might be rated highly. I don't think that is consistent, and it doesn't correspond to the real user experience. He's good on conventions for naming. For instance, 'site contents' is not the same as 'site map' - because web users have quickly got used to certain conventions - the site name at top left, Help top right, and so on. Homepage links to 'Forum' for instance don't mean much - even though the information beneath them might be quite valuable. These are valuable insights. This is an attractive and well-illustrated book. Don't be put off by the front cover - which makes it look like a home improvements catalogue. It's is a serious workbook for Web designers at all levels. Anybody who wants to keep abreast of Web design and e-Commerce should read Nielsen - even if it's to disagree with him. © Roy Johnson 2001 [more WEB DESIGN books] Jakob Nielsen and Marie Tahir, Homepage Usability: 50 websites deconstructed, Indiananapolis, (Ind): New Riders, 2002, pp.315, ISBN: 073571102X
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