Usability: The Site Speaks for Itself

 This book features case studies in usability and information architecture from the makers of eBay, SynFonts (a Flash-driven font foundry e-commerce site), the BBC News Online site, Economist.com web site, evolt.org (a peer-to-peer web professional site) and MetaFilter.

There are no hard-and-fast rules for usability on the Web, which is why this book steers away from the rigid prescriptions of gurus. Instead, it looks at six very different, but highly usable sites. The web professionals behind these sites discuss the design of each from their inception to today, how they solicited and responded to feedback, how they identified and dealt with problems, and how they met the audience's needs and expectations.

This book is edited by Molly E. Holzschlag, a member of Web Standards Project (WaSP) and author of a dozen books on web technologies, and Bruce Lawson, glasshaus brand manager. 

 

 This book features case studies in usability and information architecture from the makers of eBay, SynFonts (a Flash-driven font foundry e-commerce site), the BBC News Online site, Economist.com web site, evolt.org (a peer-to-peer web professional site) and MetaFilter.There are no hard-and-fast rules for usability on the Web, which is why this book steers away from the rigid prescriptions of gurus. Instead, it looks at six very different, but highly usable sites. The web professionals behind these sites discuss the design of each from their inception to today, how they solicited and responded to feedback, how they identified and dealt with problems, and how they met the audience's needs and expectations.

•  Don Synstelien of SynFonts shows how he assembled a usable Flash-driven e-commerce site, which enhances his users' experience and protects his copyright. He shows that, when used properly, Flash can be 100% OK.

 

• Max Gadney, Head of Design at BBC News Online talks about the challenges of moving from the TV medium to the Web, and the differences in usability requirements between the main news site, and the sports and children's sites.

 

• David Wertheimer talks of how The Economist's web site involved careful design work to ensure the branding mirrored the print magazine, and looks at implementing easily distinguished free content and subscription only sections.

• Kelly Braun, Manager of User Interface Design at eBay™ and Tom Walter, Executive Creative Director, look at the work involved in designing an e-commerce site that makes a profit each quarter, while meeting the needs of 42 million users.

• Adrian Roselli, one of the founders of evolt, writes about how they needed to be on the vanguard of usability and accessibility and compatible with every browser known to man yet still maintain branded look and feel.

• Matt Haughey writes of his adventures in constructing MetaFilter, a great community site, on a zero budget. This includes usability testing, usable advertising, and community management.

This book is edited by Molly E. Holzschlag, a member of Web Standards Project (WaSP) and author of a dozen books on web technologies, and Bruce Lawson, glasshaus brand manager.