Train of Thoughts: Designing the Effective Web Experience
- Book Review,
by John Lenker
Dr. Paul Bieganski, Technology Strategist, CTO, Net Perceptions
"In this eloquent and well-designed book, Lenker charts a new path toward conceptually rich and intellectually meaningful Web experiences."
Lynda Weinman, Author and Educator
"Lenker's book is thoughtful and provoking. It challenges your assumptions and guides you to produce better sites."
Dr. Michael Allen, Creator of Authorware; CEO, Allen Interactions Inc.
"I've gathered valuable insights from Lenker's writing that will help me in my work to lead multimedia development efforts."
Richard Jackson Harris, Professor of Psychology, Kansas State University
"This insightful guide to constructing web sites does what is often neglected—seriously consider the psychology of the web user"
Book Description
Is creativity the enemy of usability? How do you judge the success of a person's experience interacting with a web enterprise? Is the effectiveness of an online resource defined only by how "usable" it is? In Train of Thoughts, web strategy and design consultant John C. Lenker Jr. provides insight into how web enterprises must interact with people to be successful in the twenty-first century. Train of Thoughts is non-technical and written not only for web designers and developers, but also for any stakeholder in a web enterprise that has a vested interest in ensuring that their online resources become more meaningful and valuable. In this book, you'll learn to understand what motivates people's online behavior and then convert that motivation into online results; communicate with people effectively online so that they really understand what the value proposition of an online resource is; combine forward-thinking information design techniques with systems that pave experiential pathways for people to journey along in pursuit of their interests and goals; properly employ personalization to build relationships; understand the true role of creativity online; uncover screen-space designs that aid and inspire the mind; reconcile business objectives with stakeholder needs; approach process in a way that keeps projects on time, on budget, and on target; create online resources that actually work when they're completed; and actualize creative vision appropriately for the web.
Book Info
Lenker charts a new path toward conceptually rich and intellectually meaningful Web experiences. This book challenges your assumptions and guides you to produce better sites. Softcover.
From the Publisher
We were going to sub-title this book "Flash 99% Good" but there's evidently another book by that name and there's already enough confusion in the market place, right? Okay, seriously... As Amazon.com's own blurb introducing that books begins, "In an October 2000 article, "Flash 99% Bad," usability guru Jakob Nielsen wrote, 'About 99% of the time, the presence of Flash on a website constitutes a usability disease.' " New Riders is proud to be Jakob Nielsen's publisher, but we're quite aware that not everyone agrees with 100% of what he says (you might be surprised at how many people agree with much of what he says, though). Which brings us to John Lenker. John argued passionately that he could articulate the instinctive reaction of the many who would beg to differ with what some would term usability dogma. (John argued with his publisher on a lot of issues.) John's arguments are cogent, eloquent, and persuasive. And his visual design for the book perfectly complements his rhetoric, accomplishing an apt marriage of aesthetic appeal and prosaic utility that, after all, is exactly his point: *usability* (in the most popular technological sense of our day) is only a component of the larger matrix known as experience design. We invite your review of Train of Thoughts: Designing the Effective Web Experience, and welcome your comments. May the debate rage on.... Thanks. Steve Weiss, executive editor, steve.weiss@newriders.com
From the Back Cover
Is creativity the enemy of usability? How do you judge the success of a person's experience interacting with a web enterprise? Is the effectiveness of an online resource defined only by how "usable" it is? In Train of Thoughts, web strategy and design consultant John C. Lenker Jr. provides insight into how web enterprises must interact with people to be successful in the twenty-first century. Train of Thoughts is non-technical and written not only for web designers and developers, but also for any stakeholder in a web enterprise that has a vested interest in ensuring that their online resources become more meaningful and valuable. In this book, you'll learn to understand what motivates people's online behavior and then convert that motivation into online results; communicate with people effectively online so that they really understand what the value proposition of an online resource is; combine forward-thinking information design techniques with systems that pave experiential pathways for people to journey along in pursuit of their interests and goals; properly employ personalization to build relationships; understand the true role of creativity online; uncover screen-space designs that aid and inspire the mind; reconcile business objectives with stakeholder needs; approach process in a way that keeps projects on time, on budget, and on target; create online resources that actually work when they're completed; and actualize creative vision appropriately for the web.
About the Author
John C. Lenker Jr-an author, educator, and interactive multimedia design specialist-is the co-founder and president of invioni, a Web-strategy and design consulting firm based in Minneapolis. He's won awards for both his on- and offline interactive projects as well as for his commercial illustration. He's also been a contributing author to New Riders Publishing's Flash Magic series of books. Over the course of his career (which included leadership roles at both Allen Interactions and Martin/Williams), John has worked on numerous projects for notable organizations including: AT&T, Comcast, DaimlerChrysler, Digital Equipment Corporation, Eli Lilly and Company, Fallon Worldwide, Farmers Insurance, Frigidaire, IBM, Imation, Lucent Technologies, Lincoln Financial, Marvin Windows & Doors, Nestli USA, Nexus Lexus, Northern States Power, Novartis, Pillsbury, Powertel, RCA, Syngenta, Texas Instruments Inc., United Airlines, and U.S. West. Although he began his education studying film music composition and music synthesis at Berklee College of Music in Boston (he still writes and performs music as a hobby), John earned a BS degree in Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University. John's family includes his wife, Jennifer, and their three soon-to-be-famous children, Adrianne, 1991; Zok, 1993; and Noah, 1995.
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