Designing Web Site Interface Elements

Rating:
Summary: Do as the author says, not as he does.
Review: ¶
The aim of the DesignWhys series is to focus on the Why of interface design, not the How. A lot of work and creativity went into this book but it fails embarrassingly every time the author ventures into the How.

The author has much to teach and he does it well with vivid illustrations. His contention that Web widgets often imply assumptions and behaviors with surprising implications is something every Web application designer should pick up on and learn from.

Unfortunately, the author veers from his plan to be agnostic on technology and from beginning to end makes implementation recommendations that defy modern practice. It is as if his coding experience ended with Netscape 4 on the Macintosh, a particularly unfortunate combination.

He defines "traditional HTML" in a way that strips it of its current power and dynamism -- and then unfavorably compares it with Flash, naturally enough. Cascading style sheets (CSS) are introduced more as a complication rather than a systematic solution. The first positive mention of CSS is to point out that it can be used to get rid of those horrid link underlines -- a recommendation certain not to please the usability people.

The W3C-deprecated and destructive FONT tag is used throughout the book. On page 124, he warns that a drawback to using JavaScript to change form elements is that it forces an entire page refresh. This was true of Netscape 4 but not of any other browser released since 1997. His references to "Netscape 5," a version never released to the public, indicates that some of the book is refurbished from old material.

Whenever the author gets into implementation, beware. For instance, his suggestion that a 50-item dropdown be divided into two 25-item dropdowns. There are more elegant and usable ways to handle that situation nowadays.

Following the author too literally would result in sites and Web applications very expensive to develop, even more expensive to maintain, and with a severely restricted usability.

The book ends with illustrations of sites the author considered ennobling. People who make Web interfaces for real people, not for other designers, will find them tediously irritating. The book would have been more valuable if it had covered the widgets of our daily bread a tad more seriously.

When it comes to Web design Why's, do as the author says, not as he does.
¶

Rating:
Summary: a focused, in-depth look at interface design elements
Review: Eric Eaton's "Designing Web Site Interface Elements" is perhaps the most comprehensive book on the design of web site interactive elements (links, buttons, forms, windows, etc.). This relatively narrow focus-most "web books" have to widen "the lens" to fill their pages with enough useful insight-allows for very in-depth treatments of interface design topics. For example, in the section on links, Eric talks in great detail about links styles (text vs. graphical), arrangement, density, grouping, placement, description, color, etc. The sections on button and form element design are similarly comprehensive.

Topics covered:
- links;
- buttons;
- form elements;
- control elements (window controls mostly; important if you're using DHTML or Flash to create your own windows, sliders, etc.);
- metaphors (physical world, paging, tabs, etc.);
- custom and experimental interface elements (again, good resource for those using Flash or DHTML to create their own interface elements).
- a good selection of case studies with discussions of what works and doesn't work, and why.

Overall, this book will make a worthy addition to any web designer's library. Also recommended: Paul Gokin's "Interface Design for Ecommerce Applications" (search for this one on the web), and Bob Baxley's "Making the Web Work."

Rating:
Summary: a focused, in-depth look at interface design elements
Review: Eric Eaton's "Designing Web Site Interface Elements" is perhaps the most comprehensive book on the design of web site interactive elements (links, buttons, forms, windows, etc.). This relatively narrow focus-most "web books" have to widen "the lens" to fill their pages with enough useful insight-allows for very in-depth treatments of interface design topics. For example, in the section on links, Eric talks in great detail about links styles (text vs. graphical), arrangement, density, grouping, placement, description, color, etc. The sections on button and form element design are similarly comprehensive.

Topics covered:
- links;
- buttons;
- form elements;
- control elements (window controls mostly; important if you're using DHTML or Flash to create your own windows, sliders, etc.);
- metaphors (physical world, paging, tabs, etc.);
- custom and experimental interface elements (again, good resource for those using Flash or DHTML to create their own interface elements).
- a good selection of case studies with discussions of what works and doesn't work, and why.

Overall, this book will make a worthy addition to any web designer's library. Also recommended: Paul Gokin's "Interface Design for Ecommerce Applications" (search for this one on the web), and Bob Baxley's "Making the Web Work."

Rating:
Summary: mnutter reviews
Review: It has tons of ideas for how to go beyond the same-old same-old in Web
design, Eaton gives scores of examples and techniques for designing
interactive interface elements, but without the pedantic, how-to
language that people like me hate. Before you know it, you've learned more
about usability and site design than you would expect. A few too many
pages are spent on the basics, from site architecture to how links work;
but half the book is relevant to advanced interactive Web design. Not

quite as edgy as the stuff he wrote for Webmonkey, it's as humorous as a
useful guide can be. A useful tool for a wide range of designers.

Rating:
Summary: Web pages as an art form
Review: Web pages are truly a functional art form. The best are a combination of complex functionality, have a small digital footprint for quick downloading, can easily be deciphered, and are pleasing to the eye. This is a tall order and although design principles have been studied and refined for years, most do not satisfy all of these high requirements. Eaton has written a book that shows you many of the simple features that can make the difference between a site that blocks and a site that rocks.
One very striking feature of the book is the high quality of the pages and the images. The paper is slick, and nearly all pages are in full color. From this, you can see exactly how the pages would appear on the screen. In fact, very few screens would render them in this vivid a form. The advice, sensible, but also artistic in nature, shows you how to appeal to the facets of art appreciation that nearly everyone possesses. As humans, we share a common heritage for forms, some of which attract, others which repel and those which can do both, depending on the context. Eaton understand this very well and does a good job in describing and demonstrating this knowledge. Not all mouse clicks or buttons are created equal, and it is essential that the web interface designers understand the circumstances that make them different.
Packed with essential knowledge, not all of which is obvious, this is a book that should be read by all people who code the parts of a web site that will be seen.

Rating:
Summary: Do as the author says, not as he does.
Review: ¶
The aim of the DesignWhys series is to focus on the Why of interface design, not the How. A lot of work and creativity went into this book but it fails embarrassingly every time the author ventures into the How.

The author has much to teach and he does it well with vivid illustrations. His contention that Web widgets often imply assumptions and behaviors with surprising implications is something every Web application designer should pick up on and learn from.

Unfortunately, the author veers from his plan to be agnostic on technology and from beginning to end makes implementation recommendations that defy modern practice. It is as if his coding experience ended with Netscape 4 on the Macintosh, a particularly unfortunate combination.

He defines "traditional HTML" in a way that strips it of its current power and dynamism -- and then unfavorably compares it with Flash, naturally enough. Cascading style sheets (CSS) are introduced more as a complication rather than a systematic solution. The first positive mention of CSS is to point out that it can be used to get rid of those horrid link underlines -- a recommendation certain not to please the usability people.

The W3C-deprecated and destructive FONT tag is used throughout the book. On page 124, he warns that a drawback to using JavaScript to change form elements is that it forces an entire page refresh. This was true of Netscape 4 but not of any other browser released since 1997. His references to "Netscape 5," a version never released to the public, indicates that some of the book is refurbished from old material.

Whenever the author gets into implementation, beware. For instance, his suggestion that a 50-item dropdown be divided into two 25-item dropdowns. There are more elegant and usable ways to handle that situation nowadays.

Following the author too literally would result in sites and Web applications very expensive to develop, even more expensive to maintain, and with a severely restricted usability.

The book ends with illustrations of sites the author considered ennobling. People who make Web interfaces for real people, not for other designers, will find them tediously irritating. The book would have been more valuable if it had covered the widgets of our daily bread a tad more seriously.

When it comes to Web design Why's, do as the author says, not as he does.
¶