Customer Reviews

The Handbook of Human Factors in Web Design (Human Factors and Ergonomics)

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This is a huge book and there is a ton of information covered. Some of it in depth and some at a high level.

Most of the contributor's names are followed with PhD. That is not a bad thing, it is actually good, because the book does not read like it was written by people who's names are followed by PhD, but the material is PhD quality.

The book reads like a collection of thesis papers that have been translated for us mere mortals to understand. It is a collection of papers gathered into sections by topic, which means the chapters do not always flow into one another, but some do build on one another.

Some of the topics covered are Historical Overview of Human Factors and Ergonomics, History of Computers and the Internet, Human-Computer Interaction, Physical Ergonomics and the Web, Developing Adaptive Interfaces for the Web, Organization and Structure of Information using Semantic Web Technologies, Intranets and Intra-organizational Communication, User-Centered Methods for the Designing Web Interfaces, Task Analysis Methods and Tools for Developing Web Applications, Human Factors in Online Consumer Behavior, Analyzing and Modeling User Activity for Web Interactions, and Mobile Interface Design for M-commerce.

The book is very expensive and at its current price I can't say that the information you get out of it is worth the price or not. It will depend on how much of it you end up using and how much of it is new to you.

I am assuming it is so salty partly because of the construction of the book, which is very high quality. It is one of the best constructed book I have purchased.

The thing I like most about the book is that its chapters are self contained. I read this book in absolutely no order at all. I picked the topic I was most interested in and started there. I continued down the list of topics that interested me.

Each chapter is followed by a very extensive reference section that allows you to continue digging further into the topic if so desired.

Although the book is not in color, there is a nice section of colored figures. It includes all the figures that benefit seeing them in color.

One thing is for certain, after lugging this thing around for a month you are sure to be in better shape.

If you build web sites, and you care about your customers getting a high quality product from your efforts, invest in this book. I rarely pay $111.00 for a book, but I can say I am glad I did, this was worth every penny.

Consider the following questions about web design:

*Which font is the best to use for online information?
*What kind of navigation structure best supports user performance?
*What does airplane cockpit research have to do with effective web design?
*How can you design and measure search interfaces to ensure that users view the search results as relevant?
*What must a web designer do in order to ensure that web-based content is accessible to users with physical and cognitive disabilities?
*What task analysis, knowledge elicitation, and user modeling methods are best suited for developing web interfaces and systems?

This handbook gives readers the answers to these questions and more. The book provides a comprehensive treatment of human factors research methods, design guidelines, and processes for use in developing effective websites and web-based technologies. Its 38 chapters are written for a wide audience, and many of the chapter authors lead the field in human factors research and web interface development.

Topics range from the history of human factors and the origins of networked computing, to research methods for understanding user needs and task requirements, to effective interface design guidelines and emerging technologies in the field. Each chapter contains a rich collection of historical and contemporary references, and many chapters provide the reader with links to additional information available online. While some of the information published in this book can be found elsewhere, this text is truly a "one stop shop."

If you can only get one book on web design guidelines and methods (as well as the human factors research behind them), this is the one to have!