Web Application Design Handbook: Best Practices for Web-Based Software (Interactive Technologies) Review

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Web Application Design Handbook: Best Practices for Web-Based Software (Interactive Technologies) ReviewI bought this book because Krug's book (Don't Make Me Think) recommended it and because my main concern was web-based business applications not public web sites.
I was extremely disappointed by Web Application Design Handbook:
1) It doesn't say much more than what any Windows developer has known
for the past 10 years
2) It is full of discussions about software DEVELOPMENT but it is
supposed to be a DESIGN book
3) It is supposed to be a book about WEB design but half of it is
about reports, graphs, diagrams, and maps
The first half of the book concentrates on what was advertised: design/usability of web-based applications. But it doesn't offer many new ideas. Most of the recommendations are well-known to Windows developers. It doesn't give enough attention to what's different about web-based applications.
The amount of useful, thought-provoking information in this book that could help a Windows developer create better web-based applications is no more than 50 pages. Not very good for a book of 600 pages.
The book does not inspire confidence that the recommendations are based on real usability testing. There's a lot of conventional wisdom followed by a lot of suggestions to figure it out yourself with your own usability tests.
The book has a maddening tendency to slip into development issues. Why on earth are there JavaScript code examples in a design book???!!! Why are there discussions about the impact of client vs server-side code on network bandwidth? Not only are these discussions distracting, they are also full of half-truths, oversimplifications, obsolete information, and some outright mistakes.
Almost 2/3 of the book is about topics that are beyond the scope of web application design (ok they're at least straining the limits): reports, graphs, diagrams, maps. That material would be handled better in a separate book, dedicated to those topics. As it is, most of the book is irrelevant to my needs.
If you are concerned with usability/GUI design of web sites or web applications forget this book and get Krug's Don't Make Me Think instead.
Web Application Design Handbook: Best Practices for Web-Based Software (Interactive Technologies) Overview

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Tagging: People-powered Metadata for the Social Web Review

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Tagging: People-powered Metadata for the Social Web Review
This was a really good book. It wasn't what I expected it to be. But it was a worthwhile read. I picked it up because I do a fair amount of work writing book reviews and making guides and booklists on Amazon. And Amazon now lets guys like me create tags for the books I review and include in guides and lists. I kind of expected this book would have talked a little bit about the Amazon system of tagging. Nope. But that's OK. It's still a good book. It includes seven chapters and three appendices:
1. What is tagging?
2. The value of tagging
3. Tagging system architecture
4. Tags, metadata, and classical systems
5. Navigation and visualization
6. Interfaces
7. Technical design
A. Case study: social bookmarking
B. Case study: media sharing
C. Case study: personal information management
Tagging is a form of information that is really starting to take root in our computer systems and online systems. I first experienced it back in 1998 when I purchased a copy of Lotus Organizer to use as my Personal Information Manager (PIM) when practicing law. The program allowed me to cross-reference the many lists I had created in its database. I thought it was really cool back then.
I was just getting into creating Web sites in 1998, too. And I found the tagging features in Lotus Organizer enabled me to do with the data in my database what I was doing with my Web pages in my Web sites. Basically tagging is another name for hyperlinking. Nothing more and nothing less. A tag will take you to a new idea, concept, data item, data page, or database. It's a springboard that will take you to information.
This book points out that tagging is a new form of information management as it relates to personal organization, information architecture, and online communities. I suppose my Lotus Organizer program is an example of the first, and Amazon's system is an example of the last. So is it really all that new?
All in all, this book explains the value of tagging. It's a guide to what, how and why to tag. Each chapter ended in a list of bullet points called a Summary. I liked this feature very much since it helped me skim through the book quickly. 5 stars!Tagging: People-powered Metadata for the Social Web OverviewTagging is fast becoming one of the primary ways people organize and manage digital information. Tagging complements traditional organizational tools like folders and search on users desktops as well as on the web. These developments mean that tagging has broad implications for information management, information architecture and interface design. And its reach extends beyond these technical domains to our culture at large. We can imagine, for example, the scrapbookers of the future curating their digital photos, emails, ticket stubs and other mementos with tags. This book explains the value of tagging, explores why people tag, how tagging works and when it can be used to improve the user experience. It exposes tagging's superficial simplicity to reveal interesting issues related to usability, information architecture, online community and collective intelligence.

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Beyond the Usability Lab: Conducting Large-scale Online User Experience Studies Review

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Beyond the Usability Lab: Conducting Large-scale Online User Experience Studies ReviewLarge-scale usability testing is not new, but it's definitely become bigger and more important now than ever before. The reasons why it's becoming such a popular research method are many and are relatively clear: Cost-effectiveness, statistical significance, geographic coverage, etc. There are powerful tools being used by leading UX teams from top global brands using this method. However, still today many UX Pros are used to testing mostly in the Lab environment and in many cases are either intimidated by statistics or simply don't feel comfortable outside of the Lab or if they don't see the participant's face. In my humble opinion, this must change for the good of the UX industry.
Beyond the Usability Lab is both simple and amazing. What the authors have done is prove how powerful online usability studies truly are. It's an eye-opener for an industry (UX) in need for more accountability and credibility. UX Pros must back up their findings and conclusions with both qualitative and quantitative data, not just rely on what 5 users have to say about an interface.
Don't get me wrong: I think testing in the Lab is GREAT and I'm 100% sure that the authors think the same. But today's highly competitive marketplace requires UX Pros to go BEYOND THE LAB and have a versatile usability toolkit to truly understand and measure UX.
I've got to thank the authors (highly experienced UX Pros themselves) for their vision and the effort to push this research method. Much like it was with tools for Web analytics, online surveys or even Lab studies back in the 1990s (first rejected and then slowly being adopted by everyone), I'm quite certain that large-scale Online Usability Studies will become mainstream pretty soon.Beyond the Usability Lab: Conducting Large-scale Online User Experience Studies Overview
Usability testing and user experience research typically take place in a controlled lab with small groups. While this type of testing is essential to user experience design, more companies are also looking to test large sample sizes to be able compare data according to specific user populations and see how their experiences differ across user groups. But few usability professionals have experience in setting up these studies, analyzing the data, and presenting it in effective ways. Online usability testing offers the solution by allowing testers to elicit feedback simultaneously from 1,000s of users. Beyond the Usability Lab offers tried and tested methodologies for conducting online usability studies. It gives practitioners the guidance they need to collect a wealth of data through cost-effective, efficient, and reliable practices. The reader will develop a solid understanding of the capabilities of online usability testing, when it's appropriate to use and not use, and will learn about the various types of online usability testing techniques.


*The first guide for conducting large-scale user experience research using the internet *Presents how-to conduct online tests with 1000s of participants - from start to finish *Outlines essential tips for online studies to ensure cost-efficient and reliable results



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Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes In The Age Of The Machine Review

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Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes In The Age Of The Machine ReviewThis book is easy to read - and should open most peoples eyes a bit more...
It describes how we (mankind) uses external representations to assist our brains - from writing, to diagrams, to maps, to the way we build our offices.
If you want a deeper psychological understanding with which you can do your own reasoning on different types of external representation - get this book. If you want clear-cut guidelines - get another book.
If you like this book - try Normans: The Design of Everydaythings as well. You might like Donald Schöns The Reflective Practitioner also.
Last word: Norman seems to prefer easy reading to structure - which means the book is best read end-to-end.Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes In The Age Of The Machine Overview

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Complete Web Monitoring: Watching Your Visitors, Performance, Communities, and Competitors Review

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Complete Web Monitoring: Watching Your Visitors, Performance, Communities, and Competitors ReviewThis book will change the way you think about your online business. From page performance, to conversions, to user experience, to social media, "Complete Web Monitoring" covers the gamut of tools, techniques, and services that exist today to help you truly optimize the success of your online business.
The book breaks down all online business into four categories: Media, Transaction, Collaboration, and SaaS. Throughout the book, as you learn about the various flavors of analytics, usability, surveys, page performance, monitoring, online community management, collaboration...and how all of this fits together...you are given specific, direct, and actionable steps to take that apply to your specific business model. For example, "Transaction" businesses must focus on conversions, uptime of the checkout process, and what customers are saying about their products. "SaaS" companies should focus on the performance of their most common paths through the application, popularity of specific features, and the user experience of the holistic product.
The amount of data and the number of tools at your disposal are overwhelming. At times this book is rather overwhelming. Choosing between an analytics provider, a monitoring service, or a social media tracking service could keep you from actually accomplishing real work. Sometimes too much choice and too much data is a very dangerous thing. It's important to remember to step back, remember the goals behind your measurements, and focus on solving the problems of your customers. With that in mind, the lessons learned in this book will help you zero in on optimizing those end goals.
"Complete Web Monitoring" is valuable for the same reason it is difficult to categorize. The various tools and services that you learn about are generally used by many different departments across an organization, all for very different reasons, generally without any sort of collaboration. What you realize reading this book is that there is a lot more to the success of your business than the limited visibility you get from using these tools independently. To truly understand how your business is doing, and how you can improve not only revenue but also how you build your business, you need a holistic picture that includes data from numerous sources. "Complete Web Monitoring" gives you more then anything I've come across previously in giving you the tools, pointing you to the techniques, and teaching you to focus on what is most important.Complete Web Monitoring: Watching Your Visitors, Performance, Communities, and Competitors Overview
Do you really understand your online presence? Are you confident that visitors can use your website? Do you know their motivations? How do online communities perceive your company? To innovate and adapt your business quickly, you must know the answers to these questions.Complete Web Monitoring demonstrates how to measure every aspect of your web presence -- including analytics, backend performance, usability, communities, customer feedback, and competitive analysis -- whether you're running an e-commerce site, a community, a media property, or a Software-as-a-Service company. This book's concrete examples, clear explanations, and practical recommendations make it essential for anyone who runs a website. With this book you will:



Discover how visitors use and interact with your site through web analytics, segmentation, conversions, and user interaction analysis
Find out your market's motivations with voice-of-the-customer research
Measure the health and availability of your website with synthetic testing and real-user monitoring
Track communities related to your online presence, including social networks, forums, blogs, microblogs, wikis, and social news aggregators
Understand how to assemble this data into clear reports tailored to your organization and audience

You can't fix what you don't measure. Complete Web Monitoring shows you how to transform missed opportunities, frustrated users, and spiraling costs into online success. "This is a very comprehensive view of just about everything one needs to know about how websites work and what one needs to know about them. I'd like to make this book required reading for every employee at Gomez." -- Imad Mouline, CTO of Gomez


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Beautiful Visualization: Looking at Data through the Eyes of Experts (Theory in Practice) Review

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Beautiful Visualization: Looking at Data through the Eyes of Experts (Theory in Practice) ReviewI am relatively new to creating data visualizations, so I was very curious to see what kinds of ways I could express data by reading about what experts do. Beautiful Visualization is an excellent resource, mostly for those who are not novices like myself, but regardless, is a wonderful learning tool.
The chapters are written by different people, each with different methodologies and tools that they use to visualize data. Several chapters include sample code or suggested applications you can use to create visualizations, most of them open source. A key thread throughout the course of this book is using visualization to tell stories that may not otherwise be told or realized by simple data evaluation.Beautiful Visualization: Looking at Data through the Eyes of Experts (Theory in Practice) Overview
Visualization is the graphic presentation of data -- portrayals meant to reveal complex information at a glance. Think of the familiar map of the New York City subway system, or a diagram of the human brain. Successful visualizations are beautiful not only for their aesthetic design, but also for elegant layers of detail that efficiently generate insight and new understanding.

This book examines the methods of two dozen visualization experts who approach their projects from a variety of perspectives -- as artists, designers, commentators, scientists, analysts, statisticians, and more. Together they demonstrate how visualization can help us make sense of the world.

Explore the importance of storytelling with a simple visualization exercise
Learn how color conveys information that our brains recognize before we're fully aware of it
Discover how the books we buy and the people we associate with reveal clues to our deeper selves
Recognize a method to the madness of air travel with a visualization of civilian air traffic
Find out how researchers investigate unknown phenomena, from initial sketches to published papers

Contributors include:

Nick Bilton, Michael E. Driscoll, Jonathan Feinberg, Danyel Fisher, Jessica Hagy, Gregor Hochmuth, Todd Holloway, Noah Iliinsky, Eddie Jabbour, Valdean Klump, Aaron Koblin, Robert Kosara, Valdis Krebs, JoAnn Kuchera-Morin et al., Andrew Odewahn, Adam Perer, Anders Persson, Maximilian Schich, Matthias Shapiro, Julie Steele, Moritz Stefaner, Jer Thorp, Fernanda Viegas, Martin Wattenberg, and Michael Young.


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