Defensive Design for the Web

Wisconsin Bookwatch, Sept, 2004

Defensive Design For The Web

Matthew Linderman & Jason Fried

New Riders

c/o Pearson Technology Group

801 East 96h Street, #300, Indianapolis, IN 46240-3759

www.newriders.com

073571410X $24.99 1-800-428-5331

Defensive Design For The Web: How To Improve Error Messages, Help, Forms, And Other Crisis Points by the "37 signals" team of Matthew Linderman and Jason Fried is a straightforward guide for web designers to creating sites that are less likely to encounter problems that give the browser errors such as "file not found" or worse. Black-and-white screenshots and highlighted tips add a strong visual and example component to the discussed principles. Featuring 40 guidelines to prevent errors, hundreds of real-world examples from companies like Amazon and Google, a simple test to evaluate one's own site, and much more, Defensive Design For The Web is a "must-have" resource for anyone charged with building or maintaining a website bigger than a digital breadbox.