Customer Reviews

The Real Business of Web Design

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This book takes a somewhat different approach to web design than the majority of other books. Instead of concentrating on a pretty site with the latest technology that looks great but doesn't increase your business he concentrates on building a customer experience and customer loyalty. This is about design for the web experience and therefore your customer's perception of the value received from that experience.

The basic process can be distilled down into three basic components: Identify the visitor, be clear as to your business objectives with that visitor, and move the visitor to reach that objective. This is a book about designing effective web sites for business and following business fundamentals instead of worrying about an artistically designed site that looks great but does not create customers. This is not to say that design is not important. The author goes in depth about the importance of the site's look and feel as well as its functionality.

One very important point should be noted here. There are plenty of books about designing a website with your business mission in mind. On these sites the business owner generally puts what they want the customers to want. This is not customer focused. Mr. Waters focuses on giving the customer what they want because what the customer perceives as value is what really counts and brings them back. The Real Business of Web Design is highly recommended.

If you are at all curious about the Internet's origins, already have or want to have a web site, want a primer on marketing in the 21st century or are involved in web design, this book is for you. John Waters has put his broad knowledge into a one-stop read in his first book, The Real Business of Web Design.

From the vision of Tim Berners-Lee, founder of the World Wide Web, Waters describes the original objective of the Web as a place where information is to be shared freely. Of course, since Berners-Lee made the tools to do this available to anyone in 1991, the Web has grown dramatically, changing how we do business.

Simple guidelines for designing web sites are discussed in the book with major emphasis on the consumer and their experience. "Show respect" for the site visitor is a key point to keep in mind and it includes such things as easy design, easy navigation, permission marketing, and sharing information.

Waters also makes distinctions that illustrate how much marketing has changed as a result of the accessibility that we have to consumers everywhere. Old style methods of repeatedly bombarding consumers with unwanted messages is increasingly ineffective as consumers' have learned to filter them out. Waters explains and touts the effectiveness of permission marketing as well as other strategies that are aligned with the realities of today's marketplace.

To complete the points illustrated in the book, the author brings in vivid examples of numerous companies that have successfully implemented the strategies discussed. This book is a great place to start, and probably end, your education on Web Design.

When everyone was putting up their first Web site, I was overwhelmed with books "explaining" what needed to be done. Much of that advice looks pretty ridiculous in retrospect. So I was curious to learn more about how the great Web sites I enjoy are being developed today. The Real Business of Web Design proved to be a satisfying look at principles, processes and practices that I found to be enlightening. I especially liked the detailed examples that dot the book.

One of the book's great strengths is that Mr. Waters constantly reminds us that the Web offers us all the potential to have new relationships with one another through new and enhanced interactions. I am constantly and pleasantly surprised by the wonderful people I meet through the Internet, and the interesting activities these contacts lead to.

Frequently, that valuable focus on enabling us to be with one another is lost in the welter of "up selling," "creating customers for life," and other buzz words for wringing more money from the pockets of those who happen to visit.

For those who love processes, this book will be a delight. I especially enjoyed the sections about how to ensure that specific customer needs are kept in mind during Web design.

This book will be valuable to both those involved in Web design and those who hire them to do their work. I certainly intend to refer back to this book many times as we redo our Web sites in the future.

If you already know the Web's history, I suggest you start on page 56. Otherwise, you will feel like you are off to a slow start.

Nice job!

There are a lot of books on how to create a web page. They vary from simple, use Front Page type books, to books on the back end process like those on .asp or php. There aren't many books that take a step back and ask questions like 'what is it that you are trying to do with this web site,' 'how easy is it for the visitor to find what he wants,' 'how does the web help fulfill the overall business mission of the organization.'

This is not a teckie book. It doesn't tell you how to do HTML, instead it is on the things you need to think about first before you start to cut code, or have someone else do the site. One of the big mistakes is who to pick to design the web site. An artist tends to make it pretty. A programmer makes it clean looking. A marketeer wants to sell things. Management has to decide the goals of the site. And management often isn't prepared to do that because of a lack of knowledge about what is possible. This book attempts to bring management up to the level of specifying a web site.

It's not easy to write a book about something as intangible as the Web that is simultaneously practical, philosophical and historical, but John Waters has. I appreciate most the excellent overview of where we've come from and how to design a site for today's Internet.

I read an interesting book on web design recently. It's titled The Real Business Of Web Design by John Waters (Allworth Press). It offers up some different views on web site design that I hadn't considered before...

Chapter List: Linking and Thinking; New Rules for Growth; After the Bubble Burst; Business Fundamentals; Expanding the Circle; The Growth Continues; The Information Age Is History; Mission-Driven Design; Organizing the Trip; Developing the Look and Feel; Building the Site; Form, Function, and Feasibility; Interaction Designers; Functional Designers; Business Designers; Governing the Web; New Basics for Marketing; Making a Difference; What Customers Want; A Value Proposition for the Web; Building One-to-One Relationships; Integrated Marketing Communications; Faster, Better, Cheaper; Economic Possibilities; The Circle of Language; Golden Music; Resources; Notes; Index

To be sure, this isn't a mechanics book. You won't go here to learn new techniques for animating graphics or structuring navigation. What you will learn is how to approach web design from a functional and business perspective. It's not enough to just throw out a few web pages and call it good. People expect more than that. Your site becomes the calling card for your business and is really an extension of it. If the customer has a bad experience on the site, you can rest assured you'll never see them again. By designing for a specific person who is using your site to accomplish something, you'll meet the needs of that person type as a whole. So instead of saying "what would a user want to do?", you build a fictional person, complete with name and background, who has a specific goal in mind. You then design for that single person. After designing the site for a set of these characters, you'll find you've successfully met the needs of most everyone who falls into those categories. In addition to that design technique, Waters covers a wealth of more generic information on the business of using the web to run your business.

All very good stuff, and worth the read...

In The Real Business Of Web Design, veteran design consultant John Waters offers a resource of developing web strategy, clarifying relationships between design, technology and business and showing how to make Web sites work more effectively by making them more user-friendly to their visitors. Use The Real Business Of Web Design to simplify and clarify Web site development, and learn how to identify both casual visitor and business objectives.

Most of the book is a wash by now. It could use a little updating. The book can be summarized into the following:

Sites should be designed to allow for effective and efficient two-way communications between you and your clients... (that's my Cliff's Notes version of the book.)

Everything else supports that main theme. It's all pretty superficial information. If you've read other Web Design Business books, you've already seen this information. I still like Jim Smith's book (How to Start a Home-Based Web Design Business) the best.

I just want to add a note of caution to prospective buyers. I can appreciate a book about the internet, business, and the history of the web. If that's what you want, buy this book! Don't read any further!

If you are looking for a book on designing a web site however, this may not be the book for you. You have to really search to find good advice, and who has the time? Go out and buy a book like "Don't Make Me Think?" by Steve Krug if you want good advice. Buy this book if you're interested in web history.

After reading this book, I was able to start my own <a href="http://www.stormfrontproductions.net">Indiana web design business, Stormfront Productions</a>. It focuses on the basics of starting a web-based business, which has always been a goal of mine. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to start a business.