Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Smart organizations recognize that Web design is more than just creating clean code and sharp graphics. A site that really works fulfills your strategic objectives while meeting the needs of your users. Even the best content and the most sophisticated technology won't help you balance those goals without a cohesive, consistent user experience to support it.

But creating the user experience can seem overwhelmingly complex. With so many issues involved-usability, brand identity, information architecture, interaction design-it can seem as if the only way to build a successful site is to spend a fortune on specialists who understand all the details.

The Elements of User Experience cuts through the complexity of user-centered design for the Web with clear explanations and vivid illustrations that focus on ideas rather than tools or techniques. Jesse James Garrett gives readers the big picture of Web user experience development, from strategy and requirements to information architecture and visual design. This accessible introduction helps any Web development team, large or small, to create a successful user experience.

Average Customer Rating:

Great resource!	Customer Rating:
Excellent book for all Web designers, project managers and graphic designers that wish to create Web sites.

Fundamental, yet comprehensive

Customer Rating:

Although very basic, this book is great for getting the fundamentals of experience design. Garret creates a model that describes the web design process through five distinct stages. Then he breaks down each stage to identify the differences and overlapping areas between the web as a software interface and the web as a hypertext system. The clarity of this model illuminates the subtle differences between various terms which often get used interchangeably in the field, like information design, interaction design and navigation. It also serves as an excellent resource guide. This alone makes it worth the price of the book.

The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web

Customer Rating:

Garrett clearly states that his aim is to articulate his vision that was captured in his sketch of the elements of user centered design for the web ([...]). He certainly accomplished this, but he did not go any further than that. For this reason I would only recommend this book to someone who is looking for a cursory reference on how to break down the layers of web development incorporating user centered design principles. This book might compliment Call to Action since Call to Action is less structured, but driven more by tangible examples. I hesitate to recommend Usability for the Web only because I haven't finished reading it. But so far it is extremely well written, detailed, and well structured. I suspect for someone looking for a thorough 432 page book rather than a cursory 174 page book, Usability for the Web will be the preferred alternative.

Just ok... rather obvious conclusions....	Customer Rating:
Anyone is the field could see that this book is rather "blah" There is better literature on the subject out there... but this might be good for a student, or anyone who wants to get their wet in the field. Not great, but not all bad either -- its good reference tool.

The Elements of User Experience	Customer Rating:
It is for my Information Design class. I haven't used it yet, but it arrived on time and in good condition.