Most discussion about Web design seems to focus on the creative process, yet turning concept into reality requires a strong set of deliverables—the documentation (concept model, site maps, usability reports, and more) that serves as the primary communication tool between designers and customers. Here at last is a guide devoted to just that topic. Combining quick tips for improving deliverables with in-depth discussions of presentation and risk mitigation techniques, author Dan Brown shows you how to make the documentation you're required to provide into the most efficient communications tool possible. He begins with an introductory section about deliverables and their place in the overall process, and then delves into to the different types of deliverables. From usability reports to project plans, content maps, flow charts, wireframes, site maps, and more, each chapter includes a contents checklist, presentation strategy, maintenance strategy, a description of the development process and the deliverable's impact on the project, and more.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 37 Ratings

full of information - 2009-04-17
Reviewer Rating:
an easy read and jam packed with vital information when working as an interaction designer.

Good reference - 2009-04-07
Reviewer Rating:
The book considered as a very good and valuable reference, I think it's essential for those in the field (development) to have this book in their libraries.
Dan Brown really opened my eyes on different methodologies on design documentation, the content inventory, Concept models, and even the Competitive analysis which I've been performing for a while now. There are some parts of the book that i already know and was useless (not in bad meaning) to me such as usability test, usability reports, and persona.

The best part of the book for me was the site map which is amazingly great.

A Solution to a Long Time Problem - 2008-12-11
Reviewer Rating:
I have to admit something. When I joined my company, my department had been struggling with two big problems for years - poor programming hires and poor product documentation. This book helped answer the second problem.

When it came to documentation, nothing the group had created was easy to digest or effective to develop from. The resulting code was of low-to-middling quality. We'd tried SCRUM, Agile and most recently, RUP. Nothing seemed to work. So when I was tasked with redefining our documentation strategy (again), I was convinced I needed a book that would give me all the answers.

So, when I first got this book, I was really disappointed. It was NOT a book of examples or templates that we could use/emulate/steal. Instead, the book mixed design theory and principles with documentation deliverables. While it turned me off at first, I quickly realized the greater value - CONTEXT and VISUAL DESIGN.

What the book does best is provide valuable context when deciding which documents to create and for whom. This alone was a revelation. No longer did we have to follow some predefined, time-consuming and text-heavy format that no one will read.

The book essentially advocates that we take a visual design approach to documentation. I immediately had visions of documents that were as easy to understand as a picture book -- in almost a presentation-like format. This forced us to "Keep It Simple, Stupid" as we started re-defining our documentation - which leads me to the best comment I can say about the book.

This fall, I used the knowledge I gained in this book to convince my higher-ups on a new strategy that creates fewer documents, more visuals and saves time. Our work is more effective communication tools for business stakeholders and developers. We've created products that provide better results financially and programatically.

I'd also recommend attending a seminar at Dan's company EightShapes.

Great Resource - 2009-09-30
Reviewer Rating:
This is a great resource for showing you all the various documentation process that surround web design today. This book sits next to me on my desk at work with The Elements of User Experience by Jesse James Garrett at the moment.

A good book for a none designer - 2009-03-23
Reviewer Rating:
I'm been a web developer for several years but recently I've been pushing myself in to the design field. not easy but either hard. This is a great inspirational book if you want to start creating new web2.0 sites. it gives you color palettes do you can have brief ideas from where you can get started. Great book though. Author has a very nice gallery in its own web site, so I always get there to get me inspired.

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