Customer Reviews

Web Bloopers: 60 Common Web Design Mistakes, and How to Avoid Them (Interactive Technologies)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you get paid to develop a website, you should have this book. As the title says, "Web Bloopers" details 60 of the most common (and annoying) design mistakes committed by web developers and then tells you how to avoid them.

Each blooper is explained in words as well as in pictures (snapshots are taken of various sites around the web), and then the author explains why the blooper is so bad and how to avoid it. As with any design, there are trade offs, sometimes you have to commit one blooper to avoid another, but as long as you realize that's what you're doing, you're gold. This book is very well organized. The title of each blooper is a good summary of the problem. The index in the back helps you to quickly find examples both good and bad (and it also lets you see if you're company has been made an example of). The author even points out some blooper's in his own publisher's website.

If everyone who is responsible for creating websites took the time to read this book, think about the user, how intuitive their site is, and how easy it is to glean information from it, the Internet would be a much nicer and friendlier place. I highly recommend this one.

I found this book to be a bit lacking. I have read most of the usability books on the market, and this book did not cover anything new. The author did not go into the science behind the bloopers and does not cite any studies that were conducted. Rather, he uses pictures to back up each blooper. The book is 60-70% pictures. The layout of the book made it hard to read, since the pictures constantly interrupted the text flow.

You can find the list of bloopers on the author's Web site and I do not think this book adds much additional value, since most experienced Web developers have already seen examples of each blooper. You can find better descriptions of usability problems by doing a Web search. This book would be appropriate for a new Web designer/developer, or someone who has not already read much about usability.

In conclusion, most Web developers would be better off with the book Don't Make Me Think, a Jakob Nielsen book, or an Information Architecture book.

Jeff Johnson has become known to a wider audience through his book GUI Bloopers, in which he describes common user interface design sins. His new book Web Bloopers continues on this track and offers a list of 60 common Web design mistakes.

The author not only illustrates the mistakes through examples but also gives advice on how to avoid them.

The overall sequence of parts and chapters starts with deep issues of Website content, operation, and task flow and proceeds to more surface-level presentation issues.

Every blooper is followed by hints on how to avoid it.

The book is supplemented by a Website, web-bloopers.com. Among others, readers will find there a very useful list for checking Websites before publishing them on the Web.

It is an excellent, well-illustrated resource for anyone whose work touches on web usability issues.

As web designers, we have a responsibility to avoid the worst mistakes. There are so many of them to make, and they are so easy to avoid!

By using this well-presented book, you can design a site that avoids the worst bloopers.

Rigid rules are rarely 100% right, but I don't think that's the intention here. I'm sure Jeff Johnson is aiming for "rules of thumb".

I'm not always sure I agree with his solutions, and they won't always work in every situation. Sometimes the blooper would be the right solution in a particular instance.

But as a starting point everything in this book makes good sense, and the examples show clearly what he's talking about.

It's an easy read as well. I highly recommend it.

I'm an auditor, I review other peoples work and decisions. I wanted something to help provide a structure to assess web site quality. I don't want to appear like the Boss in the Dilbert Cartoons but I needed a "soft" introduction - I'm not creative! My home page is sufficient evidence of very limited design skills http://mysite.verizon.net/vze48sdz/.

The cliche "a picture speaks a thousand words" is appropriate for this book. It provides illustrations of good and bad practice to illustrate common mistakes. There may be better books on web design, with more technical guidance, however this book could prevent expensive mistakes that could damage your brand and ruin customer experience.

If you are hiring a web designer, or approving the work of an internal team, this is probably the best book on web design you could buy. The book concludes with a 60 question checklist.

This is a great book to assess the end product and fine tune your site. It should also help avoid making mistakes along the way. It is short on creativity. That's not what I was after, so I'm not disappointed. I like the checklist allot (suppose I have been in audit too long!).

I saw the author's presentation at SD West 05, and that made me even more interested in reading this book. Jeff obviously understands the material very well, and he explains the issues eloquently. Fortunately, his book is at least as impressive as his verbal presentation.

As a Web/database developer (and small business owner) I have been steadily working my way through his "Web Bloopers" book. It's great stuff, and I enjoy reading it slowly and carefully pondering each issue. The more I read, the more I realize how desperately my own company's Web site needs to be improved.

One of my clients is tasked with improving an intranet site at a large Bay area computer company, and I've just recommended this book to the client. If the senior stakeholders read the book, it's likely to greatly the odds of project success.

Many IT-related books have good ideas. What makes Jeff's book so special is that he makes the learning process so enjoyable, with his interesting and funny real-world examples.

This book is rather outdated. Web design has made leaps and bounds since it was published. However some basic principles still apply, as they always will.

How often, while reading a technical book, do you find yourself laughing out loud? With Web Bloopers, I did, and as much at myself (that "oops! I'd better go fix my site!" feeling...) as at the numerous real-life examples painstakingly collected. I especially enjoyed seeing that the big boys (airlines, retail chains, major publishers, etc.) are just as guilty as us little guys. Mr. Johnson calls 'em as he sees 'em and we're all better off as a result.

Sometimes it's just better to find a book that tells you what not to do. That's what I like about this book. I'll build a site or be in the middle of one and open up this book to see where I've made a mistake. What's nice is that the author tells you how to fix your mistakes as well. Another thing that I really like is that the book is broad enough in its scope to cover all of the important Web Design issues and the advice is really easy to understand. Hopefully, this will lead to better educated Web Designers and a more usable Web.

This is a great book! It reads as a collection of bloopers from many well known sites of what not to do. That's what I like about this book: it's fun to read and instructive at the same time. I'll build a site or be in the middle of one and open up this book to make sure that I haven't made a blooper. What's nice is that the author tells you how to easily fix your mistakes. Another thing that I really like is that the book is broad enough in its scope to cover all of the important Web Design issues and the advice is right on. Hopefully, this will lead to better educated Web Designers and a more usable Web.