9780201721492

Creating a Web site is easy. Creating a well-crafted Web site that provides a winning experience for your audience and enhances your profitability is another matter. It takes research, skill, experience, and careful thought to build a site that maximizes retention and repeat visits.

Douglas K. van Duyne is cofounder, president, and CEO of NetRaker Corporation, a maker of mission-critical Web site design and usability testing tools.

Foreword

xxvii

Preface

xxxi

Acknowledgments

xxxvii

PART I Foundations of Web Site Design

1

(106)

Customer-Centered Web Design

3

(16)

Making the Most of Web Design Patterns

19

(12)

Knowing Your Customers: Principles and Techniques

31

(30)

Involving Customers with Iterative Design

61

(26)

Processes for Developing Customer-Centered Sites

87

(20)

PART II Patterns

107

(518)

Pattern Group A Site Genres

108

(75)

Personal E-Commerce

110

(8)

News Mosaics

118

(7)

Community Conference

125

(10)

Self-Service Government

135

(5)

Nonprofits as Networks of Help

140

(6)

Grassroots Information Sites

146

(6)

Valuable Company Sites

152

(7)

Educational Forums

159

(7)

Stimulating Arts and Entertainment

166

(5)

Web Apps that Work

171

(7)

Enabling Intranets

178

(5)

Pattern Group B Creating a Navigation Framework

183

(44)

Multiple Ways to Navigate

184

(5)

Browsable Content

189

(4)

Hierarchical Organization

193

(5)

Task-Based Organization

198

(5)

Alphabetical Organization

203

(3)

Chronological Organization

206

(3)

Popularity-Based Organization

209

(5)

Category Pages

214

(4)

Site Accessibility

218

(9)

Pattern Group C Creating a Powerful Homepage

227

(16)

Homepage Portal

228

(9)

Up-Front Value Proposition

237

(6)

Pattern Group D Writing and Managing Content

243

(72)

Page Templates

244

(7)

Content Modules

251

(6)

Headlines and Blurbs

257

(6)

Personalized Content

263

(11)

Message Boards

274

(9)

Writing for Search Engines

283

(8)

Inverse-Pyramid Writing Style

291

(7)

Printable Pages

298

(4)

Distinctive HTML Titles

302

(6)

Internationalized and Localized Content

308

(7)

Pattern Group E Building Trust and Credibility

315

(36)

Site Branding

316

(6)

E-Mail Subscriptions

322

(6)

Fair Information Practices

328

(6)

Privacy Policy

334

(6)

About Us

340

(7)

Secure Connections

347

(4)

Pattern Group F Basic E-Commerce

351

(58)

Quick-Flow Checkout

352

(7)

Clean Product Details

359

(10)

Shopping Cart

369

(8)

Quick Address Selection

377

(7)

Quick Shipping Method Selection

384

(5)

Payment Method

389

(6)

Order Summary

395

(5)

Order Confirmation and Thank-You

400

(4)

Easy Returns

404

(5)

Pattern Group G Advanced E-Commerce

409

(52)

Featured Products

410

(7)

Cross-Selling and Up-Selling

417

(8)

Personalized Recommendations

425

(8)

Recommendation Community

433

(9)

Multiple Destinations

442

(5)

Gift Giving

447

(6)

Order Tracking and History

453

(8)

Pattern Group H Helping Customers Complete Tasks

461

(42)

Process Funnel

462

(4)

Sign-In/New Account

466

(6)

Guest Account

472

(5)

Account Management

477

(5)

Persistent Customer Sessions

482

(6)

Pop-Up Windows

488

(5)

Frequently Asked Questions

493

(6)

Context-Sensitive Help

499

(4)

Pattern Group I Designing Effective Page Layouts

503

(26)

Grid Layout

504

(4)

Above the Fold

508

(4)

Clear First Reads

512

(5)

Expanding-Width Screen Size

517

(4)

Fixed-Width Screen Size

521

(4)

Consistent Sidebars of Related Content

525

(4)

Pattern Group J Making Site Search Fast and Relevant

529

(16)

Search Action Module

530

(4)

Straightforward Search Forms

534

(3)

Organized Search Results

537

(8)

Pattern Group K Making Navigation Easy

545

(56)

Unified Browsing Hierarchy

546

(4)

Navigation Bar

550

(4)

Tab Rows

554

(4)

Action Buttons

558

(4)

High-Visibility Action Buttons

562

(3)

Location Bread Crumbs

565

(3)

Embedded Links

568

(4)

External Links

572

(4)

Descriptive, Longer Link Names

576

(5)

Obvious Links

581

(5)

Familiar Language

586

(4)

Preventing Errors

590

(4)

Meaningful Error Messages

594

(4)

Page Not Found

598

(3)

Pattern Group L Speeding Up Your Site

601

(24)

Low Number of Files

602

(4)

Fast-Downloading Images

606

(8)

Separate Tables

614

(3)

HTML Power

617

(4)

Reusable Images

621

(4)

PART III Appendixes

625

(44)

Appendix A Running Usability Evaluations

627

(16)

Appendix B Sample Web Site Evaluation Plan

643

(4)

Appendix C Sample Consent Form

647

(2)

Appendix D Sample Observer Form

649

(2)

Appendix E Online Research

651

(18)

Glossary

669

(26)

Resources

695

(32)

Credits

727

(4)

About the Authors

731

(2)

Index

733

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

You are probably wondering how this book is any different from the numerous other Web design books out there. This unique book is not about programming or any specific technology. Nor is it a quick fix for all of the problems you and your team will face in developing a Web site. No single book can do that. What this book does offer are principles, processes, and patterns to help you develop successful customer-centered Web sites. With this customer-centered focus, your Web site can be relevant, self-explanatory, and easy to use. Creating a Web site is easy. Creating a successful Web site that provides a winning experience for your target audience is another story, and that is what this book is about. And when you're finished reading it, it will be a valuable reference tool to keep on your desk. You can turn to it again and again as you design, redesign, and evaluate sites. Your target customers 1 will differ. Depending on your business, they might be members in a club, students of a university, concerned citizens, or paying shoppers. The goals of each of these audiences will also vary, but the challenge for you is the same: creating an interactive interface that provides tangible value to the people who go to your site. The patterns in this book provide you and your team with a common language to articulate an infinite variety of Web designs. We developed the language because we saw people solving the same design problems over and over at great time and expense. The patterns examine solutions to these problems. We present the best practices from our consulting experience, our research experience, and our Web development experience--gathered in one place. In The Design of Sites we give you the tools to understand your customers better, help you design sites that your customers will find effective and easy to use, shorten your development schedules, and reduce maintenance costs. If you do not have "customers," think of target audiences. One focus of the book is the design of e-commerce Web sites; however, you can successfully apply the majority of the content to make any Web site better. Who Should Read This Book? This book is written for anyone involved in the design and implementation of a Web site. Its focus is tilted more toward Web design professionals, such as interaction designers, usability engineers, information architects, and visual designers. But this book is also written to be a resource for anyone on a Web development team, from business executives to advertising managers to software developers to content editors. The best possible team will understand and buy into the customer-centered design philosophy because every person on the team influences how the Web site is shaped and formed. Web Design Professionals* Start with Chapters 1 and 2 to understand the motivation for customer-centered design and the patterns approach to Web design. If you already have a strong background in the principles (Chapters 3 and 4) and processes (Chapter 5) of customer-centered design, you can skim these chapters and move quickly to the patterns themselves (Part II of the book). If you have less experience, the three chapters on customer-centered design and development (3 through 5) should prove useful for whatever kind of Web site you're developing. Business Managers* Read Chapters 1 through 5 to understand the business consequences of ignoring customer-centered design, as well as to learn the principles and processes required to build a customer-centered site. E-commerce sites pose the greatest risk of project failure. These chapters show techniques you can use to reduce this risk, decrease feature creep, and minimize implementation and maintenance costs. Customer-centered design will also help you shorten development schedules and increase overall customer satisfaction--and consequently client satisfaction too. Business Clients* If you are the c

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Design of Sites, The: Patterns, Principles, and Processes for Crafting a Customer-Centered Web Experience

Design of Sites, The: Patterns, Principles, and Processes for Crafting a Customer-Centered Web Experience

020172149X

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