Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Copious Code, April 11, 2002
Aimed at intermediate to advanced developers, "Constructing Usable Web Menus" homes in on what works, and what doesn't when designing menus for the Web. Chock full of copious amounts of code and screenshots, the book offer a good, albeit incomplete, overview of available menu options for webmasters and guidelines for effective menu design.The book is one of the first in a series of how-tos from Glasshaus, a new imprint from Wrox Press. This new series is designed to teach "web professional to web professional" and is slanted towards the more proficient practioners of the craft. The first two chapters of the 227 page book offer guidelines for good menu design (rules, info architecture) while the final four chapters show how to create various types of menus through JavaScript, DHTML, Flash, and PHP/MySQL to populate client-side menus. The first part of the book deals primarily with usability and information architecture. Here's a list of the "12 Rules for Web Menu Usability" from the first chapter: 1. Menus must be considerate of the user's main task
2. Menus must be distinct from content
3. Menus must be clearly readable
4. Menus must be easily scanned for information
5. Menus must be easily operated
6. Menus must behave as your target user would expect
7. Menus must load quickly as possible
8. Menus must be consistent across a site
9. Menus must put a higher premium on usability than branding
10. Menus must be localizable
11. Menus must be accessible to the handicapped
12. Menus must work on multiple browsers All good advice. On the last point the authors do an admirable job, claiming their code works on most modern browsers, including IE4+, Netscape 4+, and Opera 5+ for the PC and IE4+, Netscape 6+, and Opera 5+ for the Mac. They make some good points, especially that menus be clearly readable and fast loading. I've seen many a site with slow loading, tiny text menus that are difficult to use, especially for users with older eyes or motor impairments. Designers would be well-advised to follow their guidelines. However, the authors' coverage of menu designs is somewhat incomplete, and their research needs a refresh. They don't cover simple CSS menus that don't require JavaScript. Perhaps this was because they decided to include Netscape 4 among their target browsers. They also cite Miller's 1956 7+-2 paper, then say it is out of date, but offer no more recent data on the limits of short term memory and menu design (Microsoft's depth versus breadth research for example). Expandable menus are covered, but hierarchical menus get just one screen shot, from MSDN. While some may question the use of slow-loading or overly complex menus on Web sites, hierarchical menus are in use on many popular sites...Overall the book gives developers a good overview of menus on the Web, and how to create them.
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13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Look no further!, March 25, 2002
I was a Technical Reviewer on this book. You might feel that I would be biased in favour of the book, however, I have a good overview of the content of the book, ands just want to give you a fair idea of what it's about.
Usability is something that all of us as web developers have to deal with day in and day out. With the dawn of every new day in this industry, we are forced to realize thats it's becoming more of a people issue and less
of a technology issue. On any web resource, the menu ultimtely decides whether or not its going to be a killer application.
This book gives you everything you need to build great usable menus. What I liked about this book is that it's not tied down to any technology. It has something for everyone, and the chances are that you will end up using some
of the alternatives that it offers.
For example, it has 12 common sense usability rules to follow to make sure you're on the right track, a great Flash menus tutorial that shows how to populate a Flash menu from XML using PHP, tons of great JavaScript/DHTML menu examples, and advanced addons to these menus, involving dynamic population of HTML menus using PHP/ASP, from XML and SQL Server/MySQL - a dynamic approach to menus aking them more scalable, and easier maintained.
"Usable Web Menus" is one book which helps you build great menus right off the shelf. I wouldn't miss this book for anything. Do buy a copy for yourself, I assure you won't regret it.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A real disappointment, August 26, 2004
This book promises to "take all the hassle out of implementing web menus, in whatever style and technology you wish". It doesn't deliver.
First, I would have expected more about what a "usable Web menu" is. The twelve rules and the brief section on information architecture are pedestrian. The authors recommend usability testing but don't give test results for their own designs. The authors mention "the excellent book 'Web Site Usability'" and then violate its emprically determined recommendations. Rule 2, "Menus must be distinct from content", is a case in point. It contradicts an observation from "Web Site Usability": that "Navigation and content are inseparable".
Second, I would have expected "hooks" between the usability section (design) and the technical section (implementation). The usability section ends on p. 53, and the technical section, which continues for another 150 pages, makes few references to it.
Third, I would have expected suggestions for basic, universally accepted, HTML-only menus. The authors illustrate Rule 12, "Menus must work on multiple browsers", by showing what a fancy graphical menu reduces to in Lynx, the text-only Web browser. Lynx is never heard from again, and every example in the book requires JavaScript, Dynamic HTML, Flash, or, worse yet (for other reasons), server-side scripting.
Fourth, I would have expected information about accessibility. Rule 11, "Menus must be accessible to the handicapped", suffers from outdated diction and a total lack of coverage. The rule is introduced on pp. 31 - 32 but never mentioned again. "Accessiblity" isn't even in the index. Due to heavy use of JavaScript, Dynamic HTML, and Flash, the examples in the book are not accessible. (Incidentally, Web accessibility is often a legal requirement. Any project involving federal money must comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.)
Fifth, I would have expected a more professional approach. The tone of the book is informal and sloppy. Sometimes, this covers up the authors' laziness. For example, it's easier to mention an information source (like "Web Site Usability" or the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and call it "excellent" or "eye-opening" than it is to actually read the material, quote from it, and use it.
"Constructing Usable Web Menus" is a diappointment. I'm glad I borrowed it from the library instead of buying it.
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