The Design of Sites: Patterns, Principles, and Processes for Crafting a Customer

"Just following the authors' suggestions would put your site in the top few percent for readability and usability."

Creating a Web site is easy. Creating a well-crafted Web site that provides a winning experience for your audience and enhances your profitability is another matter. It takes research, skill, experience, and careful thought to build a site that maximizes retention and repeat visits.

The authors of The Design of Sites have done much of the research for you. Based on extensive investigation and analysis of more than a hundred high-quality Web sites, this book distills the principles and best practices that make sites enjoyable to visit and an asset to the organizations they serve. This comprehensive resource features a complete set of design patterns that offers proven solutions to common Web design problems. These patterns are applicable to a wide variety of site genres and address every aspect of Web site design, from navigation and content management to e-commerce and site performance. In addition to enhancing the usefulness and quality of your site, these patterns will shorten development cycles and reduce maintenance costs.

Whether you are involved in building a site for business, government, education, or entertainment, The Design of Sites will help you focus on the needs and expectations of your customers and give you the tools you need to create a satisfying and effective Web site.

Table of Contents

Foreword.
Preface.
Acknowledgments.

I. FOUNDATIONS OF WEB SITE DESIGN.

1. Customer-Centered Web Design.
2. Making the Most of Web Design Patterns.
3. Knowing Your Customers: Principles and Techniques.
4. Involving Customers with Iterative Design.
5. Processes for Developing Customer-Centered Sites.

II. PATTERNS.

Pattern Group A: Site Genres.
Pattern Group B: Creating a Navigation Framework.
Pattern Group C: Creating a Powerful Homepage.
Pattern Group D: Writing and Managing Content.
Pattern Group E: Building Trust and Credibility.
Pattern Group F: Basic E-Commerce.
Pattern Group G: Advanced E-Commerce.
Pattern Group H: Helping Customers Complete Tasks.
Pattern Group I: Designing Effective Layouts.
Pattern Group J: Making Site Search Fast and Relevant.
Pattern Group K: Making Navigation Easy.
Pattern Group L: Speeding Up Your Site.

III. APPENDIXES.

A. Running Usability Evaluations.
B. Sample Web Site Evaluation Plan.
C. Sample Consent Form.
D. Sample Observer Form.
E. Online Research.
Glossary.
Resources.
Credits.
About the Authors