The dot.com crash of 2000 was a wake-up call, and told us that the Web has far to go before achieving the acceptance predicted for it in '95. A large part of what is missing is quality; a primary component of the missing quality is usability. The Web is not nearly as easy to use as it needs to be for the average person to rely on it for everyday information, commerce, and entertainment. In response to strong feedback from readers of GUI BLOOPERS calling for a book devoted exclusively to Web design bloopers, Jeff Johnson calls attention to the most frequently occurring and annoying design bloopers from real web sites he has worked on or researched. Not just a critique of these bloopers and their sites, this book shows how to correct or avoid the blooper and gives a detailed analysis of each design problem. Hear Jeff Johnson's interview podcast on software and website usability at the University of Canterbury (25 min.) * Discusses in detail 60 of the most common and critical web design mistakes, along with the solutions, challenges, and tradeoffs associated with them. * Covers important subject areas such as: content, task-support, navigation, forms, searches, writing, link appearance, and graphic design and layout. * Organized and formatted based on the results of its own usability test performed by web designers themselves. * Features its own web site (www.web-bloopers.com)with new and emerging web design no-no's (because new bloopers are born every day) along with a much requested printable blooper checklist for web designers and developers to use.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
A great read!:
How often, while reading a technical book, do you find yourself laughing out loud? With Web Bloopers, I did, and as much at myself (that "oops! I'd better go fix my site!" feeling...) as at the numerous real-life examples painstakingly collected. I especially enjoyed seeing that the big boys (airlines, retail chains, major publishers, etc.) are just as guilty as us little guys. Mr. Johnson calls 'em as he sees 'em and we're all better off as a result.
Valuable concepts, presented in a fun-to-read way:
I saw the author's presentation at SD West 05, and that made me even more interested in reading this book. Jeff obviously understands the material very well, and he explains the issues eloquently. Fortunately, his book is at least as impressive as his verbal presentation. As a Web/database developer (and small business owner) I have been steadily working my way through his "Web Bloopers" book. It's great stuff, and I enjoy reading it slowly and carefully pondering each issue. The more I read, the more... more info
Clueless?:
I looked at the sample pages, and saw fig. 1.2 giving an analysis of a website that didn't clearly identify its overall goals , etc. But the page in question was so obviously one of those 'search network' typo-url cookie-cutter sites of domain squatters. It's not a serious site, and anyone with half a clue in web marketing knows this. So even though I've no idea what the rest of the book says, I doubt the writer's judgment and current state of knowledge. I mean, if he can't spot a squatter spam site, what... more info
Expensive, but worth it.......:
I'm an auditor, I review other peoples work and decisions. I wanted something to help provide a structure to assess web site quality. I don't want to appear like the Boss in the Dilbert Cartoons but I needed a "soft" introduction - I'm not creative! My home page is sufficient evidence of very limited design skills http://mysite.verizon.net/vze48sdz/. The cliche "a picture speaks a thousand words" is appropriate for this book. It provides illustrations of good and bad practice to illustrate common... more info
