Human Factors and Web Development [Hardcover]

Chris Forsythe (Author), Eric Grose (Author), Julie Ratner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0805828230 | ISBN-13: 978-0805828238 | Edition: 1

Over the past two decades, standards for the usability of human-computer user interfaces have emerged. To assure the quality of human-computer interfaces, practitioners trained in human factors have become routine participants in the computer software and hardware development process. But, for the vast majority of Web-based materials, the developers are neither trained in human factors, nor have access to such expertise. The human factors profession, with its unique knowledge and practices, has had only a marginal impact on the World Wide Web and Web developers.

Traditional human factors offers many insights regarding how to achieve usable, web-based interfaces. As Web-based products have begun to permeate the lives of more and more computer users, human factors practitioners have begun to contemplate the human-computer interface issues arising with the Web, and experiment with solutions for improving the usability of Web products. However, the growth of the Web has occurred at such a rapid pace that, to date, virtually no comprehensive sources have emerged as guides for the design of usable Web products.

This book amasses perspectives from a broad range of experts in human factors, cognitive psychology and Web development, and reports research issues associated with the design and usability of Web products. In doing so, it simultaneously seeks to fill two voids. First, it makes human factors expertise, knowledge, and practices available to the Web development community. Second, it provides a comprehensive source for human factors practitioners responsible for the design of usable Web-based products.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: CRC Press; 1 edition (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805828230
• ISBN-13: 978-0805828238
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,712,169 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars excruciatingly detailed treatise on the obvious, August 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Human Factors and Web Development (Paperback)

While I liked the organization of the book (each chapter written by a different "expert") with few exceptions, there was very little practical knowledge delivered despite the abundance of minutia. For example, one author went into great detail about visual perception: proximal vs. distal stimuli, how the eye tracks across text, etc., but conclusions drawn were SO obvious, they could have been culled from the most basic design books (avoid crowding the letters in text; it makes it hard to read). Duh. From the title, I was expecting more human factors information, and less "no sh*t, sherlock" design tips (FYI the discussion on proximal and distal stimuli lead nowhere, and those were the most technical terms in the book).

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Human Factors and Typos, March 27, 2000

By 

M. J. Miller, Ph.D. (Fountain Hills, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Human Factors and Web Development (Paperback)

This book covers a considerable amount of ground by addressing the results of laboratory-based studies on human information processing and those attained in more applied settings. While I felt that the organization of information in the book was well done the overall results and recommendations given in many of the chapters were not a great revelation. For example, one author states that "attention can be disrupted when several items on a visual display are designed to capture attention" (p. 39), while the chapter on designing Web pages for individuals with disabilities suggests that one should "use a consistent, simple layout across all pages of the site", and "use large buttons and controls" (pg. 90). I'm not convinced that even relative neophytes to Web design would be enlightened by these and other such comments. However, my chief complaint with this book is that it is unequivocally the most poorly edited collection of chapters that I have ever read. Perhaps I'm a bit jaded from having read and graded one too many papers but is it too much to ask that a book addressing human information processing and Web design principles have correctly spelled words, proper grammar, and understandable formatting conventions (my personal favorite is Table 11.1 on page 141)?