I reviewed THE DESIGN OF SITES by Douglas Van Duyne, James Landay, and Jason Hong at the recommendation of Dr. Gill for a text assessing web site genres. The book took it several steps further than what I was expecting in terms of web classifications and offered a complete profile of what they listed as 'patterns' - observable trends in web design that should be followed to lay the foundations for successful sites. The rules they prescribed, while perhaps achievable instinctively, are excellent prescriptions for what otherwise may be neglected in the early-advanced development stages. Like our inclass text, it strongly emphasizes user-centric design and offers several tips relating from page layouts, navigation, searching, writing & managing content, and e-commerce. The authors are keenly of the 'usability' camp and arguably pay 'design' attention only insofar as to express how valuable it is on a homepage (i.e. first impression) and its role in site branding. The text is a terrific comprehensive resource for all stages of site planning and implementation, but it offers little in the way of innovation.

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