Lynch and Horton start out with basic design concepts and information architecture, and wisely advise following the principles of good navigation which arise out of centuries of print culture - whilst making plenty of subtle distinctions between different applications and user groups, such as web sites for training, teaching, and reference. They deal with issues of page length, typography, information chunking, and the use of frames; and they spell out the advantages of cascading style sheets, but put in a 'wait and see' caveat. There is even a chapter on editorial style - on how to write most effectively for Web pages: summary first, short sentences, and chunked information. They go into a lot of detail on graphics and multi-media, and they end up with really useful tips on animation, audio, and compression.

Even though they take a 'No HTML' approach, it might have been useful to show how some of the effects can be created. On the control of vertical and horizontal white space on the page, they are fans of the David Siegel one-pixel spacer trick, where a small graphic spacer is stretched out to create indents, half line spacing, and even empty vertical columns. It's a shame that Yale University Press has not decided to do justice to the original of this publication by reproducing some of the pages in colour. The section on graphics for instance is undermined by grey-toned pictures.

There is a consistent stress on user-friendliness and web-centred design, and their advice comes in the form of compressed wisdoms which suggest they're based on a lot of experience. The style is wonderfully concise: almost every sentence is a well-crafted digest of advice.

"Hypertext links pose two fundamental design problems. They disrupt the flow of content in your site by inviting the reader to leave your site. They can also radically alter the context of information by dumping the reader into unfamiliar territory without preambles or explanation."

I first read most of this book by downloading the files from their website. They are PDF files, a format which bridges the gap between design for print and Web. This enables more subtle control of fonts, colour, and page layout—but at the expense of large file size and the need for a proprietary reader (which Adobe now gives away free of charge). Having the book available in two formats results in the extremely rare phenomenon of a text which actually looks more attractive on screen than it does in print. However, this is an excellent publication which combines the basic principles of information architecture with well-informed tips on website design. You can check out the relationship between their theory and practice by looking at the original at

—Roy Johnson