Audience analysis methodologies are sometimes downplayed by technical communicators as "anti process," with the preferred method being what one researcher has called a "just do it" approach to document production (Hayhoe 2000, p. 468). Even those technical communicators who realize the benefit of audience analysis only occasionally take the time to identify audience demographics up-front and ra…
Web Design on a Shoestring Carrie Bickner. 2004. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders Publishing. [ISBN 0-7357-1328-6. 215 pages, including index. $24.99 USD (softcover).] The subtitle of Carrie Bickner's Web design on a shoestring could have been "Dare to do less, but do it well." Web design on a shoestring offers an engaging, informative look at how to create an attractive and effective Web sit…
A content analysis of the online versions of five major dailies shows how different aspects of Web design contribute to the efficiency of information retrieval. The Washington Post was the most efficient.
Lisa Lopuck. 2001. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing, Inc. [ISBN 0-7645-0823-7. 336 pages, including index and CD-ROM, $24.99 USD (soft-cover).] You're probably familiar with the characteristic yellow and black publications from Wiley Publishing, Inc. (formerly Hungry Minds). They publish the For dummies series that now exceeds 1,000 titles and fills shelf after shelf in the bookstores. Not…
Robin Williams Web Design Workshop John Tollett, Robin Williams, and David Rohr. 2002. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press. [ISBN 0-201-74867-3. 372 pages, including index. $39.99 USD (softcover)]. I've been a fan of Robin Williams' work since I first read her simple, common-sense design principles years ago in The non-designer's design book (Peachpit Press, 1994; reviewed in the August 1995 iss…
Peter Kentie. 2002. 2nd ed. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press. [ISBN 0-201-71712-3. 436 pages, including index. $39.99 (softcover)]. Peter Kentie's new book bridges a gap between books for beginning Web designers and advanced works for practitioners interested primarily in the usability of Web pages. Beginners' books are exemplified by Robin Williams and John Tollett's The non-designer's Web book…
Any book on Web design and development that starts with the line "the cool factor is dead" is going to grab the reader's attention. Luckily, this line is followed shortly by one that explains that after 10 years, despite the challenges of our current times, "the web remains vibrant" (p. 3). Having survived the Web wars--those that started in the early to mid-90s as companies decided whether …