Your needs are simple. You want to create a small, simple, user-friendly website that will create the right image. Sounds easy enough, but then the decisions come fast and furious. Do you want to build it yourself or hire someone? Who will host your website? Can you get by with one page or do you need multiple pages, and what’s that whole thing about navigation? Shopping carts? Why not. What about updating? Who’s going to maintain the site and how often will you need to provide new information? Wouldn’t it be cool to have . . . and the list goes on and on and on. By now your head is so full of possibilities and necessities you know you’ll never get the website off the ground unless you hire some designer and spend thousands of dollars.
If you’re like me, then you still haven’t put up your website. I opted to review Small Websites, Great Results: The Blueprint for Creating Websites That Really Work by Doug Addison because I found the whole process of creating a website overwhelming and frustrating, and I had stalled out at the design stage. Would Addison be able to help me? The short answer is yes.
Addison preaches the KISS principle throughout the book, and he provides focus. Keep it simple. The most important thing to remember is that this is a book about “design” and not a “how-to.” You won’t find detailed steps on how to implement the ideas but you will find suggestions, explanations, resources, and plenty of good, solid advice on how to design a website that will not only meet your needs but those of your potential visitor/customers.
With an engaging, easy style, Addison supplies plenty of models to demonstrate the various design flaws and corrections, as well as examples of sites that work well. If you’re at the beginning stage, this book will help you think through your ideas and develop an effective plan. If you’ve already produced a website, Addison will walk you through the latest trends and help you determine whether you and your visitors are getting full use of your site. If you’ve decided to use a professional website designer, thre's a wealth of hints, tips, and suggestions to make the collaborative process successful.
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