Web Design Book Reviews

Writing HTML is easy. Creating effective Web systems is hard. This page reviews some of the best Web design books curently available.

Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity by Jakob Nielsen: A Top Ten Book List selection.; Web sites succeed or fail depending on whether people reuse the site. Read this book instead of guessing what makes Web sites usable. Jakob Nielsen is the world’s best known Web usability researcher and author. Most of his time is devoted to real clients in the real world, so his suggestions are practical. If you’re new to Web design, this book will help you avoid dozens of common mistakes. If you’re an experienced Web designer, this book will give you new ideas and methods for your next project. Most emphatically recommended. Review added January 2001.
Information Architecture for the World Wide Web by Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville: A Top Ten Book List selection.; Information Architecture is as useful as Designing Web Usability. The authors were trained as librarians. They apply centuries of library research and best practices to organizing and presenting information on the Web. This book is filled with practical details, specific suggestions, and useful background information. Most highly recommended. Review added February 2000.
Philip and Alex’s Guide to Web Publishing by Philip Greenspun: A Top Ten Book List selection.; Philip is cranky, smart, and funny. His travel writings and photographs have been, at times, among the ten most visited sites on the Web. This book is a one-of-a-kind look at Web-database publishing from someone who actually knows what he’s talking about. You can read the book on-line if you don’t want a copy on paper. Visit that link when you have a few hours. I spent a couple of hours at the site when I first found it. A real jewel. Review added March 2000.
Cascading Style Sheets, Second Edition: Designing for the Web by Hakon Wium Lie, Bert Bos, Robert Cailliau: The authors of this book created the CSS standard. This discussion is comprehensive and detailed. The book does not assume you know HTML but it is better if you are comfortable with HTML basics. Review added January 2001.; If you read this book, also read about the reality of CSS in existing browsers. The Fear of Style Sheets series at the A List Apart site is excellent.
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud: This book never talks about the Web, but it has more useful insights for a Web designer than most Web books. Understanding Comics explores and explains how time, space, transitions, and closure function in comics. It is striking how this discussion also applies to how people use the Web. If you are a Web designer, this book can improve your work. Read Scott McCloud's online column for a taste of his work. Review added May 2000.; Special bonus: This book is a fun read!
Web Navigation: Designing the User Experience by Jennifer Fleming and Richard Koman: This is a practical and basic introduction to usability and the Web. If you’re new to Web design, pick this one up. Review added February 2000.
Designing Large Scale Web Sites by Darrell Sano: This book stresses that Web design is not graphic design. The prototype and usability oriented design techniques explained in this book can help to create a successful Web system rather than some cool pages. Darrell Sano is co-author of Designing Visual Interfaces, the best book on effective computer screen design I have seen. (Designing Visual Interfaces is reviewed on the User Interfaces Book Reviews page.) Review added 1998.
The Non-Designer’s Web Book by Robin Williams and John Tollett: Not recommended.; There is a lot to dislike about this book. It is a perfect example of why great print designers can make terrible Web designers. The authors say you should always change the link colors so that you don't “look like an amateur.” Link colors are one of the few relatively stable navigation clues on the Web, and changing them makes a site needlessly difficult for new users. The Web is not only about visual appeal. The fundamental task of a Web site is to help people accomplish a task. Then again, this aggressively practical view of the Web leads to boring sites. I am continuing to look for a book that combines an understanding of user interaction with visual design. Review added July 2000.; Note: I highly recommend Robin Williams The Non-Designer's Design Book, reviewed on the User Interface Book Reviews page.

If you need a reference to HTML, check the HTML Book Reviews page.
If you want to read more about Usability, check the Usability Book Reviews page.
If you want to read more about Web design on the Web, check the Web Design Links page.

Read a great book lately? Send an email to dpadams@island-data.com.

Web Design Book Reviews

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