This book was conceived to be used as a textbook, but it can also be very useful to webmasters and Web designers, helping them create sites that are focused on the user experience and design.

The book goes into several aspects of designing a Web site, including user input, requirements gathering, navigation and layout considerations, testing, marketing, and evaluation. Its goal is to help readers create the best Web sites for their users before getting into the programming.

It provides several examples of commercial Web sites and considers why each design may or may not be appropriate given the target audience. It also compares older and newer versions of commercial Web sites to show why the previous design may not have worked well, forcing a redesign of the site. I’ve been leading a Web development company for ten years, and the process of review and redesign is very frequent. The Web site must follow the organization in its evolution.

The book contains 11 chapters: “Introduction to Web Usability,” “Defining the Mission and Target User Population,” “Requirements Gathering--What Information Is Needed,” “Methods for Requirement Gathering,” “Information Architecture and Site Navigation,” “Page Design,” “Design for Universal Usability,” “Physical Design,” “Usability Testing,” “Implementation and Marketing,” and “Maintaining and Evaluating Web Sites.” Case studies are included for Kodak.com, asha.org, Cancer.net, and PlayFootball.com.

Color usage, text layout, and various navigation structures are discussed. These chapters are certainly important in Web design. The author presents examples of Web sites where information is not where one would intuitively expect. A very good chapter is devoted to the design of a Web site that can be used with all browsers. Designing a Web site to be used specifically with Internet Explorer is presumptive arrogance on the part of designers and coders. Web standards exist for a reason. Forcing your guests to use the browser that you think they should use is inexcusable. By using several examples of interbrowser incompatibilities, the book stresses that designing a site to be compatible with only one browser is a bad design principle. Anyone who uses the excuse, “Well, the vast majority of people use Internet Explorer,” or the disclosure, “Best viewed with...” needs to read and understand this chapter. The book concludes with four case studies, each regarding a real, commercial Web site and how the featured companies determined how to best redesign their sites.

The language is clear, and the illustrations are excellent. As mentioned, this book is intended for a classroom or training environment, but anyone responsible for Web site design will learn from the many tips it contains. Web novices will also learn something from reading this book, particularly if they are trying to advance a business or organization.