Understanding "the other side" - your website's users - is one of the biggest challenges in web development. I recommend this book for any web manager who wants to learn the methods of online user research, and the reasons for investing in it.
Mark Hurst
Founder, Creative Good, New York
A very useful read for anybody who wants to maximize the impact and effectiveness of their web sites. Written in a systematic, clear, and non-technical style the book outlines all questions that need to be asked in a website development process, from a user's point of view. Highly recommended for anybody that relies on "the web" for business generation or information delivery.
Calvin Liao
Regional Research Director, ORC International Hong Kong
The best thing about 'Breaking Through to the Other Side' is how it shows that usability is a critical business concern. In fact, usability is at least as critical to the business itself as is the development of e-business systems, which is quite often a process that takes up huge amounts of resources and drains budgets.
Christian Mejlvang
Project manager, Scandinavian IT Group, Stockholm
Breaking Through to the Other Side serves as a useful and very long awaited supplement to other books on web design and usability. The book focuses on the user's experience when interacting with websites and other digital interfaces and on how that experience can be enhanced though the developer’s insight, awareness and practical knowledge. It provides a good balance between theory and practice; one where you clearly sense the author's knowledge and perspective of both areas. Depending on the reader's focus, motivation and experience, the book can be read as a whole or in parts. Further, the reader can take advantage of the numerous examples and suggestions in the book and use them as a source of inspiration for further exploration in the world of user experience and usability.
Jette Hyldegård
Associate Professor, MLiSc
Dept. of Information Studies, Royal School of Library and Information Science, Copenhagen
Understanding your users is crucial to developing a successful website. Breaking through to the Other Side is an excellent way to get closer to your target groups, whether they are customers, journalists, employees or the capital market. The holistic approach in this book combines different web disciplines and gives you a better understanding of what it takes to develop a great website that hits your target group.
The book is very informative and easy to use and brings you knowledge about understanding your users. The first part of the book offers a complete explanation of usability studies, while the last part is useful if you want to design or execute your own usability tests. This book combines a helpful structure with easy to read non-technical language. I found it useful and consider it essential for all people working with web sites.
Kristian Lysgaard
Web manager, Danisco.com, Copenhagen
Understanding who the users of your web sites are, how they behave and what they want is not an easy job. "Breaking through" offers an extensive approach of the question in a compact form without being simplistic. With very much details yet in an easy language, "Breaking through" is an enjoyable reading build around concrete examples that states Usability Studies as a necessity in the process of designing digital services.
Usability tests are a great help for designers in a creative dead-end. Yes, there are people on "the other side" with their own culture, emotions and expectations. I would recommend this book to all the designers who sometimes forget that it's not always worth to design for designer only.
Antoine Verhaverbeke
Art Director, Satama Interactive, Helsinki
Breaking Through to the Other Side is a must read for anyone whose business depends on effectively reaching consumers through digital channels, in all disciplines from research to IT to marketing. This book not only reinforces the importance of identifying and responding to customer needs before you embark on a web development project; it provides a detailed roadmap for integrating usability testing into "real world" scenarios.
Timothy Smith
Director, Marketing Strategy, Modem Media, Norwalk, Connecticut