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Designing Web Navigation Optimizing the User Experience

By James Kalbach
First Edition  August 2007 
Pages: 412
ISBN 10: 0-596-52810-8 | ISBN 13: 9780596528102
(Average of 3 Customer Reviews)

Book description

Thoroughly rewritten for today's web environment, this bestselling book offers a fresh look at a fundamental topic of web site navigation design. Amid all the changes to the Web in the past decade, the basic problems of creating a good web navigation system remain. Designing Web Navigation demonstrates that good navigation is not about technology-it's about the ways people find information, and how you guide them.
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Browse within this book

Cover | Table of Contents | Index | Sample Chapter | Colophon

Book details

First Edition: August 2007
ISBN: 0-596-52810-8
Pages: 412
Average Customer Reviews: (Based on 3 Reviews)

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Featured customer reviews

A real eye-opener!,  November 25 2007
Submitted by Edwin V.   [Respond | View]

This is really a fabulous book! It puts exactly under words what each designer tries to do every day. The screenshots are very nice and are a real enrichment of the content. Also nice to see is that new web applications are used, with all innovation that these applications tend to introduce. This makes the book a book of this time, reflecting not only the experiences of the past, but also the new techniques from the last years.

A real recommendation for everyone trying to build web navigation!


Improving navigation,  November 06 2007
Submitted by Stéphane (NamurLUG)   [Respond | View]

In the book "Designing Web Nagiation", James Kalbach explains what makes a website usable for Humans. In order to achieve this goal, he has separated the book in 3 parts. Pay attention to remember during the reading that the subject of the book is navigation and not the creation of websites.

Before having a brief view of the content of each part, you should understand that the navigation is the first mechanism that we face when we are surfing on websites. It is very important because it generates the first feelings that we will associate with the website. For example, if it is frustration, there are less chances that you will visit this website again.

In part I, we find a lot of interesting information on the theory of navigation. There are explanations on why people try to find information and how they do that. The beginning of the book is more theoretical than the end. I say so because there is a deep presentation of every navigation mechanism used on Internet. In conclusion, this part is really interesting to find arguments to criticize the navigation of websites.

In part II, we find a framework to construct the navigation mechanisms of a website. Each activity in the framework (analysis, architecture, layout) has an equivalent in software engineering (analysis of the domain, architecture, implementation). It is valuable for people that are used to the creation of softwares. There is also an interesting chapter on the presentation of the solution to people involved in the project (customers, graphical designers, etc). The main problem in this part is that there are different examples for different activities. The understanding of the framework and how to use it would have benefited from an unique example evolving through the activities. There is also a lack of links with the first part, which could be interesting as arguments for the presentation activity.

Part III is less important, navigation is presented in different contexts (web applications, social tagging systems).

A special attention was attached to issues related to people with visual disabilities.

The book is made from 400 pages in color and there are a lot of up-to-date examples. It is really impressive.

In conclusion, it is a nice book to read if you want to have a successful website. I had a lot of good ideas emerging from the reading of each parts. To avoid forgetting them, I advise you to have always a sheet of paper not too far from you.


Mr. Kalbach thanks for a great read.,  September 18 2007
Submitted by joshSVUG   [Respond | View]

As an application developer, I found the book extremely useful as it provides a vocabulary which one can use to discuss the User Experience on one’s web site/application. The many examples (screen-shots) of web sites from around the world are extremely helpful as they demonstrate the design concepts discussed in the book.

The sections regarding Accessibility and Internationalization are indispensable. These two topics are critical for a successful web site or application.

I would have liked to see more content regarding web applications as used in the enterprise like Client Relationship Management. These applications aren’t necessarily Rich Web Application (Web 2.0) as covered in chapter 13.

The full color print lends itself to the many screen-shots and diagrams, but the use of font type and color may be excessive (light gray on light blue doesn’t really work, page 24).

The only upset I have is the page width; your eyes scan the text in an uncomfortable manner causing “eye fatigue”.

All in all – this book is a must.

Read all reviews

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Media reviews
"Designing Web Navigation seems to have it all in one place, including practice discussion at the end of each chapter and further reading recommendations. The amount of information is impressive. There is not a page without a visual aid of some sort. I certainly like having lots of screenshots of real sites with the commentary of the author...This book is chock full of the right material that belongs on your shelf for when you need it, and you will. "
-- Brett Merkey, Amazon.com


"This isn't a book in which the author has thrown in a grab bag of his experiences together and presented them with splashy graphics. Instead, Kalbach breaks out concepts, often presenting conflicting points of view (he mentions Alan Cooper's call to dispense with navigation entirely) and embellishes it with research from the fields of usability and human factors. This approach makes the book feel academic but it doesn't take away from the readability of the text at all...Congratulations to O'Reilly and the book's design team."
-- Aspi Havewala, Desicritics.org


"This handsome volume will help web designers learn how to analyze their business needs and translate them into a workable navigation system for their users. Unlike some other design books, James Kalbach doesn’t shove his own design principals down the reader’s throat. Instead, he cites use cases and usability studies that will help readers figure out which design approach will best suit their needs."
-- Susan Prosser, author of Filemaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual, Amazon.com


"After a flip through it I really want one. It looks to be quite exhaustive, well designed, and in color. It is a gem of a book."
-- Thomas Vander Wal, Flickr


"Just about anyone involved in creating a web site can benefit from the information in this book. At the very least they will be able to confirm that their current navigation system is working or not working."
-- Stephen Chapman, Fegall


"Kalbach’s book is very useful, especially when you are designing a huge site where there are a lot of considerations to be made, such as your navigation style, labeling, site architecture, layout, presentation and social tagging, among others. With so many new features on the web today, we can easily get lost on the things that we can do in our site for the sake of just having them. Kalbach’s book can help in keeping us objective and to base our decisions with the best interest of the user and owner in mind."
-- Janette Toral, Sun.Star Cebu


"Navigation is a part of every website yet not every website is able to implement a workable, efficient system. The purpose of site navigation is to inform the user as to where they are, what is available to see, and where they can go next. The author provides a well-formed framework for designing good site navigation. This full-color book is filled with examples of excellent navigation designs that can be used as guides for developing world-class websites wherein content becomes more easily accessible. Good navigation techniques help website visitors find the information that they are seeking, and therefore make the site a more valuable resource. (Reprinted with permission from The Kleper Report on Digital Publishing, copyright 2007, Graphic Dimensions, Lauderdale by the Sea, FL.)"
-- Michael Kleper, The Kleper Report


"Author James Kalbach has done an outstanding job of writing a book that shows you how to analyze your business needs and translate them into a workable navigation system for your users...This most excellent book is not a coding book. Nevertheless, it does explain the types of navigation that can be used during the web design phase."
-- John Vacca, Amazon.com


"This book was a definite treat for me, loads of information from an experienced interface developer, laid out in a clear and precise manner, lots of great and meaningful imagery throughout the full colour layout ... lovely. The target audience is anyone really, as this book is about design principles and not about programming. As the author says "When did 'web design' become equated with programming?" Web Design professionals, home enthusiasts, IT Managers, Managers in general, your 14 year old neice or nephew or your 80 year old grandparents could all read this book and gain some insightful knowledge about website navigation design. My favourite line? ... "even the coolest site will fail if the navigation is poor". A double thumbs up from me, it's a great book."
-- Steve Cartwright, Cyber Aspect


"Kalbach's book is well written, organized, and complete. He really drills down into the subject for you and leaves nothing to chance or guesswork...For the newbies out there, if web design is your dream or the casual hobby you want to turn into a career, make sure you have a sufficient background in HTML and CSS at the minimum before tackling this text. The book isn't going to hold your hand if you don't know the difference between a header tag and how to style font with CSS. Do your homework and succeed in mastering basic webpage design before moving on to this book. When you're ready to proceed though, you'll need it."
-- James Pyles, Cert Forums


"The book is published by O’Reilly, so there’s a certain expectation of quality from the start. That expectation is met through extensive visual reference throughout the full color volume. Styles used in the book are consistent throughout, and you’re able to pick up patterns in the text as you read along...This is a really great book on a topic which isn’t a primary focus very often. If you work on the Web (especially if you’re a designer) I would recommend you give this book a quick read over a weekend or two. There is some really great information provided which will definitely help you design better navigation systems for your websites."
-- Jonathan Christopher, Monday by Noon


"Designing Web Navigation is an excellent and highly recommended pick for any collection strong in web design fundamentals."
-- James Cox, The California Bookwatch

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"This book is chock full of the right material that belongs on your shelf for when you need it, and you will. "
--Brett Merkey, Amazon.com