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Jakob Nielsen is well known for his writings on web site usability -- his Designing Web Usability (2000, New Riders) is one of the seminal works on this essential subject. In that earlier book, Nielsen outlined the theory of web site usability: it covers such issues as page design and layout, content design, access for the handicapped and international issues. This new book, Homepage Usability, is the practical extension of his earlier works, and, as its subtitle suggests, deconstructs a selection of 50 web sites.
Nielsen and Tahir should be credited for speaking out about what is good and bad on the web. The first section of the book gives Homepage Guidelines, a series of 113 "rules" for creating the most usable web sites. These dos and don'ts give advice on dealing with content, URLs, page titles, design, graphics, and download time, and can, for the most part, be considered common sense. Yet many web sites flaunt these rules, either deliberately or unintentionally. How many times have you gotten lost in a web site when looking for help, contact information or simply trying to navigate and find what you need?
The remainder of this book is an analysis of 50 "Homepages". Each homepage is the main page of a web site. It is presented on a double-page, and the authors' comments are shown on the following double-page. The sites examined range from such behemoths as Amazon.com, Microsoft, MTV and Disney, to lesser-known and lesser-traveled sites, such as The Art Institute of Chicago, Asia Cuisine, New Scientist and the Florida Department of Revenue. The authors deserve credit for presenting a wide variety of sites, from commercial to informational, from pure content providers (such as Red Herring), to full commercial sales systems (such as CDNOW).
Nielsen and Tahir do not hold their punches. Amazon gets a lot of criticism for its category names, such as Friends & Favorites, which the authors call "meaningless". A lot of the text used on its page is vague and meaningless, or downright confusing, and the authors say that Amazon's page "pales in comparison to Amazon's overall site usability and great shopping support."
GlobalSources -- a site whose goal is to be "a leading enabler of global merchandise trade" is a good example of a "busy, intimidating, and crowded" home page. Its mostly-text interface is a good idea -- since they are attempting to attract a worldwide market, it is best to cut down on graphics, because, in many countries, users are limited to slow modems -- but the authors explain how this could be improved and simplified. This is a fine example of a common type of home page; many webmasters could profit from examining this.
The only real criticism I have of this book is its own usability. It is a cumbrous size -- about 10 inches square -- somewhat heavy, being printed on coated paper, and the first double-page of each home page section is printed with a black background. I think this book would have been more effective if there were a cross-reference to the rules presented in the first chapter, allowing readers to see how the various sites either followed or broke them. The book ends up being a fragmented compendium, but every web designer will find this useful for the stern criticism and serious thought given to some of the minutest details. This is certainly a must-have for designers; a pity that Nielsen, who sees himself as a herald of good design does not go further and consider the usability of his own books.
-- Kirk McElhearn (kirk@mcelhearn.com)
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Explanation of ERCB rating scale:
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