UGN User Group Bookshelf

Web Design on a Shoestring


by Carrie Bickner

At the height of those flush dot-com days, Carrie Bickner, in her role as Web developer for the New York Public Library, was about to embark on an ambitious site redesign project, one that would entail bringing aboard information architects, graphic designers, editors, and writers. Then the stock market suddenly tanked and the bottom fell out of her budget. Reduced to a two-person staff, she quickly learned how to do a lot with a little. And with, Web Design on a Shoestring, a lean but power-packed book, Bickner, along with some fellow "shoestring warriors," shares this knowledge and shows how each phase in site development can trimmed back without losing control, quality, or beauty.

Using case studies and countless anecdotes throughout the book, she begins with some steps for good project planning: find a clear focus for the site, figure out what resources (hardware, software, people) are already available, and, (this will cause a knowing smile for many readers) keep the number of decision makers small. She outlines how to document the goals and requirements, both functional and technical, and advises keeping this documentation where every team member can see it. The book covers user testing, proving that usability checking neednŐt be sacrificed when moneyŐs tight, and thereŐs helpful advice on what makes good written and visual content.

Web Design on a Shoestring
by Carrie Bickner - List Price: $24.99 , Price: $17.49 You Save: $7.50 (30%) Paperback: 250 pages; Dimensions (in inches): 0.41 x 9.04 x 7.04; Publisher: New Riders; 1st edition (October 1, 2003)

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User Group Network News Service. (C) 2004, all rights reserved. Affiliate groups may freely republish this piece so long as they include the tag line: "From the User Group Network News Service at http://www.user-groups.net/"
Footnotes:
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