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<>Praise for the second edition of The Design of Sites
In my worldwide IBM marketing role, I have the benefit of working with some of the finest international interactive agencies and internal Web teams. As I read The Design of Sites, [I see] the insight from years of professional advice has been put to paper. Nowhere have I seen such a practical, effective, and easy-to-use book to solve and avoid Internet design issues. I keep a copy of the book handy to remind me of the things I forgot and to gain fresh perspectives. It never fails to deliver.
-John Cilio, marketing manager, IBM System x & z Storage Synergy
The Design of Sites artfully brings forward the original intent of Christopher Alexander’s pattern language into the user experience design arena. It is a valuable and comprehensive reference.
-George Hackman, Jr., senior director of User Experience for User Interface Guidelines, Patterns and Standards, Oracle Corporation
The Design of Sites is one of the best tools I have in my usability toolbox. [These] Web UI design patterns make it easy for me to show my clients how to get the most usability bang for their buck.
-Claudia Alden Case, usability consultant and interaction designer, Alden Case Enterprises, Inc.
If only biology class had been like this. Lucid text, bulletproof content, and a comprehensive taxonomy that’s just as much a source of inspiration as it is a production tool. This is a really, really good book. If you build Web sites, read it.
-Marc Campbell, author of Web Design Garage
Praise for the first edition of The Design of Sites
Stop reinventing the wheel every time you design a Web site! The Design of Sites helps you rethink your Web sites in terms of genres and patterns. Once you have identified the patterns and applied the best practices for those patterns as outlined in this book, you will reduce your design effort by 50 percent . . . at least!
-Pawan R. Vora, vice president, Information Architecture, Seurat Company
The content [in The Design of Sites] could make a novice into a seasoned professional over a weekend. Many companies pay a fortune for the information contained in the book’s primary chapters.
-John Cilio, marketing manager, IBM System x & z Storage Synergy
This book has many handy checklists for what you should and should not do in creating a conventional Web site. Just following the authors’ suggestions would put your site in the top few percent for readability and usability.
-Jef Raskin, creator of the Macintosh computer and author of The Humane Interface
Now that The Design of Sites has made its appearance, we won’t have to put up with those poorly designed Web pages. These authors have captured patterns from successful Web designers, including their own experience in consulting and teaching, and have made this information accessible to all of us. The book is readable yet full of worthwhile information–a valuable addition to any Web designer’s bookshelf.
-Linda Rising, independent consultant and author of The Patterns Handbook, The Pattern Almanac 2000, and Design Patterns in Communications Software
[The Design of Sites] bridges the gap from theory to practice and makes it possible for people in the Web-design space to use user-centered design principles in their work—without having to undertake extensive training.
-Maya Venkatraman, human interface engineer, Sun Microsystems
The coverage [in The Design of Sites] is excellent–issues go beyond the traditional ‘design the best page’ focus and do a good job of showing the context. I haven’t seen any other book with the kind of breadth this has.
-Terry Winograd, professor of computer science, Stanford University, and editor of Bringing Design to Software
With this book as a reference, you can benefit from what companies like Yahoo! have learned and apply it to your site, even if you don’t have a design and research team similarly sized and staffed.
From the foreword by Irene Au, director of User Experience, Google; former vice president of User Experience and Design, Yahoo!
The Design of Sites, Second Edition, is the definitive reference for the principles, patterns, methodologies, and best practices underlying exceptional Web design. If you are involved in the creation of dynamic Web sites, this book will give you all the necessary tools and techniques to create effortless end-user Web experiences, improve customer satisfaction, and achieve a balanced approach to Web design.
After a comprehensive tutorial covering the foundations of good Web site design, you will move on to discover the thirteen major Web design pattern groups. These patterns solve recurring design problems and help design teams avoid reinventing the wheel. Patterns range from creating a solid navigation framework and the all-important home page, to instilling trust and building credibility with your customers and improving site performance through better design.
The book features
- Coverage of AJAX, the Mobile Web, and online communities
- Seventeen new design patterns to add to the original ninety, including the new blog site type
- More than twenty significantly updated patterns
- 450 four-color screen shots and diagrams, including more than 150 new images
- Key site elements, including site maps, style sheets, dynamic elements, and customer profiles
- Clear, visual organization with color-coded sections for easy reference
- A balanced approach to Web design that takes both customer and business needs into account
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
A life cycle plan for websites
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Contrary to popular belief, a good website is not just the result of someone’s ability to manipulate a website development tool. The Design of Sites emphasises the need for research, planning, and documentation, and for following a standard software development life cycle – requirements definition, design reviews, testing, maintenance. The first five chapters are general, and the rest of the book contains “patterns” for specific types of websites. Thus, the reader can read the first five chapters, then pick and choose from the patterns, according to need and applicability. A bonus is the reference to a cool design tool developed by the authors – fun and useful. Whether you are developing a website for a client or for yourself, this book is for the “thinking” website developer.
Buy this if you are a serious web designer
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
If you are serious about web design, buy this book before any other technology specific book. The pattern oriented approach for web design, used in this book, is unique and very insigtful. It’s style of providing a catalog of web design patterns is very similar to the famous “gang of four” book on software design pattern.
I also liked the way many popular web sites are analyzed and dissected to elucidate many design issues commonly faced.
A top pick for classroom assignment and discussion, especially.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The second updated edition of THE DESIGN OF SITES offers a foundation survey of the principles and best practices underlying outstanding Web design, making it a recommended pick not just for computer collections, but for college-level classroom use. Web designers receive a tutorial on the basics of good web site design, with coverage of AJAX, the latest new design patterns, updated patterns, and more accompanied by color screen shots, diagrams, and discussions of site elements. From the basics of accessibility to direct manipulation and website values, all aspects of web design are surveyed. A top pick for classroom assignment and discussion, especially.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
More than simply patterns
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book was highly recommended in a presentation on UI design patterns that I attended. Until I bought my copy I didn’t realize how extremely useful it was.
Unlike other UI design pattern books, it covers more than basic page/widget level items. These include types of sites (eCommerce, news, etc.), sections and pages (message boards, help systems, newsletters), as well as lower level items.
Less obvious, but more practical for those with little or no background in UI design, is that it distills a huge amount of research, best ideas/practices and general usability guidelines. This can be invaluable when creating new and unfamiliar web sites/pages/interface elements quickly.
This new edition ensures that it’s more current in response though they make clear that for all the hype about new technologies, most of the basic patterns have not changed. Where something HAS changed, they note it.
Beyond the patterns are well written explanations of user (or their preferred term “consumer”) centered design practices. Though there are many other books on that subject, it does make this almost a singular “one-book” resource.
Exactly what I needed!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book tells me exactly what to do to design a website.
I’m a researcher in a government lab working on a large aeronautics and data mining research project. We’d like our work to be more open to the public, and I’m responsible for designing a website to engage the public in active collaboration. I’ve got less than a year, I have a small inexperienced team (me included), and I’m trying to teach them customer-centered methods as we go along. This book is like a godsend! It puts everything in one place! It gives me hope that I can actually pull this off!
Amazing book cover to cover
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this book on a whim after passing its unimpressive cover on the bookshelf several times. After looking through it, this book is absolutely awesome. It details the largest and most common design and usability issues that designers and users face when creating or revamping a website. The book then offers a variety of proven solutions to these problems. It’s indexed well and very easy to hone in on specific issues.
Really awesome book – I’d say equally perfect for site developers, content writers, wireframers and site analysts.
This Book Is The Bible!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I hardly ever write a review for a book and I read many. In fact, I believe this is my third review ever. I just had to get online and let people know what I think. So here it goes: Are you planning a web site? Is the project important to you? Want it to come out right? Want details about how to put together every single aspect of a successful site (specially an ecommerce site)? Want “to the point” type of info as in just the right amount, not too little and not way too much? Want perfect visual examples of all concepts via screen shots and drawings? Then this book is the Bible! No, forget that! This book is God! Thanks very very much to the authors. Enough said.
Book in perfect condition
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Thank you for prompt shipping. Book was in like new condition, as promised. Would definitely buy from this seller again!
Reads like a textbook
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This book is geared for professional website firms creating sites for corporations. (much discussion about how to appeal to corporations, focus groups etc.) My aim was to create a site for my small business myself, so it did not appeal to me.
This book is broken into 115 pages of ‘meat’ discussing principles of web design and the balance of the 900 odd pages consists of templates of successful sites of various natures (one for personal sites, one for non-profits, another for e-commerce etc.) But there isn’t much information on why the author thinks these sites are good! So I guess you are supposed to take the author’s word for it that these templates are good, treat the book like an a-la-carte menu, and crib the template you want, which the book claims will save you time.
Instead, I wanted to gain an understanding of what makes a great website great, and it is not to be found this book. Worse, it reads like a 101 level college course in any subject, orienting the novice to basics using verbose and pedantic language. These days there are very few novices out there – even 14 year old kids have much experience with the web. So who is this book for? Anyway this is certainly not for 10 year old kids – very heavy reading suitable for college students, but not much substance. Instead I recommend the classic “Don’t make me think” by Steven Krug.
Better than the rest….
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this book in hopes of adding to my knowledge of web design. This book does that perfectly and much much more! The topics are concise and to the point, something many other books fall short on. The layout and organization make this resource a pleasure to use. I would reccommend this title to anyone interested in web design and online development. A must for your bookshelf or desk!
Patterns for web interface design
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book may simply be the best collection of proved successful web interface design patterns. It has no technical details but does has a rich collection of the state of the art patterns that can inspire web designer. Studying this book before actual writing any web interface code is highly recommended.
Excellent!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book is incredible! The layout, the content, etc. A MUST HAVE for serious web designers who want to learn higher level web design concepts.
Very good condition very good deal
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I got this book not too fast not too late.
Condition is very good.
Packaging is very good.
This is very good deal.
Effectively tackles all aspects of website design
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book is amazing. It’s big, but it needs to be. It comprehensively addresses all of the functional pieces of a website. It defines the problems, expands on the different solutions and offers alternatives and related problems to consider before deciding.
It provides extensive (color-coded) cross-references like a textbook, but does not use the fuddy-duddy language that is expected in textbooks. Easily understood explanations for the concepts fill the text and full color screen shots, illustration and diagrams are commonly included, helping to round out the ideas. It leaves little untouched or undefined.
This is a necessarily large book that should be required reading for anyone embarking into site design.
One of the best web design books I’ve read
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am getting through the book and it is a treasure trove of knowledge about good design. The patterns discussed in the book can be implemented almost immediately. I like how they included AJAX in the book as an enhancement not a distraction to websites. They even emphasized mobile web applications and patterns for those. If you are building any type of web-based/network-based application, this book should be on your shelf.
Great Book
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am not a User Interface developer. I actually am not good at it at all. But this book gives me the knowledge I need to do UI development, planning, and make them very usable.
This is a great book. They are very thorough with all the patterns they present.
The color adds a nice touch.
It is also very up to date. They include when and where to consider using AJAX.
This book is a must have. It covers all the best pratices for designing web sites.
By Far the best Book on Designing winning web sites available
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am taking college courses for web design and I keep thinking to myself why they don’t make this book a standard for the courses I am taking. This book is a wealth of information on any subject or problem that you might run into in designing a site for the client as well as the user. I may be quite selfish and want to keep the information about this book a secret, that is how good it is. I keep returning to the book over and over again to answer questions for my courses (that the required books) don’t explain in detail. I think that says alot about this wonderful book. If you have any hesitations about buying it DON’T.
Lives up the “design pattern” legacy
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The amount of web site design knowledge presented in this text is almost unbelievable. Almost every aspect of website design is covered. If you’re looking for a ‘implementation how-to’ book, look elsewhere. This text is more of a ‘design how-to’ text, and it does an unparalleled job of that.
Not for me, that is for sure
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
If you are looking for a very technical book which outlines the various layouts you can use for a website, this is it. For my purposes, it wasn’t very helpful.
I was looking for something to help me improve my design skills and this was definitely not the book. Nothing about design at all.
Well laid out and explained
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought the Design of Sites book about three months ago and have read about 250 pages of it so far. The book has full-color pages and is a great reference for design decisions. It covers topics for so many different types of web projects. It talks about design, usability, information architecture, and almost all aspects of the web. It isn’t meant to be read cover-to-cover, but the amount of great ideas and design solutions it presents make it hard to only read it when you have an issue. Over 800 pages and a great appendix with sample usability evaluations and how to conduct online research will without question make you a better web designer/developer. I can’t wait to finish reading it.
Excellent information, extraordinary presentation
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
You have to be a little careful when you pick this book up. On first read, the style and quality of information seems to answer questions just as they enter my mind. Then, the authors use a cross-referencing technique that ties a key word to a separate pattern section. The patterns are clearly marked on each page corner, grouped by family, then numerically. It’s pretty much like a well written website in paper form. That’s the trap. I find myself spending hours running through the trails these keyword links create. Great graphics, concise descriptions, a must have reference book for anyone interested in making their websites really perform. If I lost my library in a fire, this would be the first book I’d replace.
Must to have on every designer’s shelf.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
It is the kind of dictionary for the web application designers. You can go by index, find the matching scenario and refer to it to for your problem. Very handy and all time useful.
Must to have on every designer’s shelf.
The Design of Sites
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Mint and excellent condition. Got it very fast and 100% quality service. I did not like the book itself the way it was written, etc. I thought the book was not worth the money it marketed for.
As far as you and your vendors are concerned 100% Excellence!
This is a text book, not a critic book to flip through
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
In all fairness this type of book isn’t really what I was looking for. I was really needing a book that critiqued site after site in my area…education. I needed a book that I could flip through during down time or between meetings.
This book is not that…it is a text book you would use to teach a course on web site design. Full of great information and takes a proper consumer/user experience centric view of website design. If I had the time it has a wealth of information, using to reference specific problems as them come up…but just don’t have the time to get throght the whole think like I would like…what is it, 981 pages.
Was hoping for some more fundamentals
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I was hoping this book would have more fundamental design insights that could be applied to various situations. However, I found it to be a bit too obvious with samples and ideas based on common websites. The design points were ones anyone who browses the web could have figured out on their own. Essentially the book would use popular websites as models and say do your sites like this. There was no obvious indicator that these were even patterns per se. Just that these sites are popular so they must be the best way of doing it. That didn’t seem particularly convincing when most sites design changes every 2-3 years. It also didn’t highlight the shortcomings and tradeoffs you must make when choosing a particular pattern. Essentially this book wasn’t much use to me since the websites I work on don’t fit any of their models. I was hoping for a book where you can apply *fundamental* design patterns to all types of situations not just the specific ones mentioned (e.g. The best way to format entry fields, when to use a pop up versus show everything at once, how mnay items to show in a list, when to use pagination versus list scrolling, and the why’s and hows and tradeoffs and all that stuff we consider when designing a web site.) I was hoping for something along the lines of the Microsoft style guide I read several years ago, but catered for the web.