usability

Eyetracking Web Usability
$59.99
Eyetracking Web Usability is based on one of the largest studies of eyetracking usability in existence. Best-selling author Jakob Nielsen and coauthor Kara Pernice used rigorous usability methodology and eyetracking technology to analyze 1.5 million instances where users look at Web sites to understand how the human eyes interact with design. Their findings will help designers, software developers, writers, editors, product managers, and advertisers understand what people see or don¡Çt see, when they look, and why.

With their comprehensive three-year study, the authors confirmed many known Web design conventions and the book provides additional insights on those standards. They also discovered important new user behaviors that are revealed here for the first time. Using compelling eye gaze plots and heat maps, Nielsen and Pernice guide the reader through hundreds of examples of eye movements, demonstrating why some designs work and others don¡Çt. They also provide valuable advice for page layout, navigation menus, site elements, image selection, and advertising. This book is essential reading for anyone who is serious about doing business on the Web.

Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed
$50.00
This is a nice book...but..Idk..i don't really use it. I bought it for an online class and I haven't looked at it much. Maybe I will when I get more time..

Prioritizing Web Usability
$55.00
Jakob Nielsen and Hoa Loranger paired together to create a book packed with the information necessary on what it takes to create a user-friendly Web site. Prioritizing Web Usability hits the center of the target on what the main problems with usability are. This book was written based on a study that the authors performed; this study consisted of testing 69 users across 25 Web sites. After finding out main usability problems today, they take us back to previous usability issues and compare with what many Web designers still do not understand about usability today. Although there are many problems with usability, these authors center on seven ongoing problems:

1. Search
2. Navigation and Information Architecture
3. Typography: Readability and Legibility
4. Writing for the Web
5. Providing Good Product Information
6. Presenting Page Elements
7. Balancing Technology with People's Needs

Search is one feature that will help users navigate to and inside your Web page more easily. Internal search engines are actually better than external when looking for site-specific information; also, utilizing search engine optimization and rankings on the search engine results page will increase visits to your site. Once users get to your site, they need to be able to navigate it; users have certain expectations of how each site they visit will work. Navigation on your Web site needs to be consistent with other sites navigation designs. Also, make sure your Web site's clutter is reduced, avoid redundancy, and be specific with links and label names. Once you have made your appearance preferable and easy for the user, you then need to focus on content.

Users speak a different language than Web site developers. When putting content on your Web site, first make sure you use minimum 10-point font and have a readable mix of font styles and colors. Then, you need to understand how Web users read; users are turned away by confusing content. The key is to use simple language and only put what is necessary on the home page; you can always layer more information on deeper links. Once this is done, the authors advise readers to provide good product information and win customer confidence. Finally, make sure to balance technology and multimedia content on your Web page; do not make your page confusing or bloated with videos and un-loadable items. The final and most important rule of usability is to keep your design and content simple; this is the most difficult combination to perfect, but if you get user input and listen, your Web page will be successful.

Nielsen and Loranger went very in depth about all of the above aspects of this book. If you are looking to learn about a specific topic or about everything to do with usability, this book can satisfy that craving. The one thing I noticed first about this book was that it was a real study conducted and therefore, very credible. A big positive of the book was that it was packed full of examples. For almost every point made, there were pictures of Web sites that both represented the positives and negatives of the point. I also liked the fact that the past, present, and future were addressed; the authors referenced a lot to what problems used to be in Web site usability, then what problems have continued on into current usability problems, and then forecasted what future usability problems will look like. I do not know a lot about usability or Web terms, so a drawback for me was that the information bored me in some places and I would get tired of reading the book after a chapter. I found that moving slowly through the book was the key to optimal learning.

I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It was a very good read; this book was written in plain language and had a lot of good information that could be used for any person's website. The one drawback was that it had almost too much information in it; I was so overwhelmed by all the problems to do with usability that I never could really focus in on a few main ideas. Overall, though, great book!

Handbook of Usability Testing: Howto Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests
$60.00
A very good review of testing for the web. It is one of the three or four title worth reading on this subject