June 2nd, 2008

Early reviews of Designing for the Social Web are in!

Well, Designing for the Social Web has been out for about a month and I’m happy to report that the early reviews are positive. I can’t tell you how nervewracking it is to have a book out there…it’s such a mix of emotions generally…will they find it useful? Will they like it? Will they tell me? Etc…

If you’re considering diving into it yourself, here are some reviews from folks who have already read it.

My first Amazon review!:

“First, this is not a programming book- there are no lines of code. Instead, this is about the design of social websites. It is very well written, with many illustrations and examples, in a style which makes it both easy to read and useful as a reference. It’s clear that the author put a lot of time into this- probably because he’s read countless books himself lacking in these areas. You can probably find books with more information on each topic he discusses but I have never seen one that pulls the information together so completely and coherently. For this alone, he deserves high marks.”

David Mantripp says:

“Designing for the social web is a great little book, and deserves to become a classic.”

Mike at Web Worker Daily writes:

“The book overall is a good mix of theory and practical advice. The author doesn’t hesitate to bring in things like Milgram’s experiments on authority or Axelrod’s work on cooperation when they inform his subject - but he’s not mired in theory. You’ll find plenty of concrete tips (many of which may be obvious after you’ve seen them) on subjects as diverse as removing friction from your sign-up process to where to place the most important content on your site.

If you’re serious about building interactive sites, this book should definitely go on your shelf. I wish the designers of some of the sites that I struggle with had read it.”

Justin Thorp says:

“Some of the highlights so far have been things like the intro to the rise of the social web, AOF (Activities, Objects, and Features) method, how to build authentic conversations with your users, and how to communicate the actual benefit of your service in a way that will get your users coming back over and over again.

Buy This book. You’ll love it.”

(Note that some of these links points to a larger review, and I’ve just grabbed the juiciest bit here)

I’ve also had quite a few mentions on Twitter, which is an awesome way to get quick feedback and know what’s going on. Many are “I’m reading the book” type posts (I’m leaving those out), so no feedback as they’re still in the process of reading. If you have feedback, please send it my way (or post it).

Here are the folks who have read the book and are commenting on it on Twitter.

Chrissie Brodigan (@chrissieb) tweets:

“loved it myself - feels like the “Don’t Make Me Think” of the social web world - I expect it will become a classic.”

Chris Palle (@chrispalle) tweets:

“It has that simply said approach, @bokardo is hitting a readability/brevity sweet-spot.”

Amie Gillingham (@gillie) tweets:

“Josh, I think the new book is excellent. You gave our team a ton to think about. Kudos!”

And this one wins for inventive use of language:

Nick Bouton (@nickb) tweets:

“fwiw, the last 30 minutes reading your book have already given me two massive brainwaves for Protagonize. thanks for this!”

So, if brainwaves are what you’re after, give Designing for the Social Web a try.

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Comments ( 11 Responses so far )

1. Paul Hart on June 2nd, 2008 (Comment) #

I got my copy a couple of weeks ago. It’s a slim tome, but full of content. The use of real-world examples of things done well (and painfully badly!) really helps to drive home the points you’re making.

I’m doing some high-level work on a semi-social application, and the book delivers a huge amount of high quality grist for the mill.

2. Ross Hill on June 2nd, 2008 (Comment) #

Mine’s on a ship to Australia Can’t wait!

3. Keith on June 2nd, 2008 (Comment) #

I’m about 1/2 way through and loving it. One thing I’m really enjoying is the realization that much of what you offer up as advice for social design applies to running any business and design in general on the web.

I’m not sure if you intended to reach a broader focus, but I keep drawing parallels to my own budding philosophies as a business owner and much of the design specific stuff relates to how I design–social or no.

Great book so far!

4. Ben Nevile on June 2nd, 2008 (Comment) #

Hi Josh,

I was excited the day your book arrived in the mail last week. I devoured it over the course of the next couple of days. It’s economically written: chock full of ideas with no filler. Refreshing!

Every time I had a new idea, I stopped to write it down in my notebook. I now have pages and pages of ideas to think about and maybe implement. Once I’ve made a dent in my list I plan to read the book cover-to-cover again.

I really appreciate and am excited to have a formal framework to design within. I stumbled into this field about a year ago, got lucky with the right timing for an idea and some basic design principles, and almost overnight had a community of 300,000 users to manage. The whole thing has been an experiment - most of my decisions have been based on intuition, and I’ve not always been correct! Certain ideas in the book really resonated with things I’ve observed and learned.

My biggest disappointment was that there wasn’t more to read, especially since as a devotee of your blog, I felt like I’d been exposed to a lot of the ideas.

Keep writing!

5. Gratis Webwinkel on June 2nd, 2008 (Comment) #

Hey Joshua, just placed my order! We’re working on new Social Websites in the Netherlands so we’re looking forward reading the book.

6. interaction design on June 2nd, 2008 (Comment) #

Josh, first of all congratulations with the initial positive feedback and reviews. I can imagine it is nerve wrecking to wait if they will like it or not. Mine is still underway but I am looking forward reading it.

7. JP on June 3rd, 2008 (Comment) #

Will it be available as an e-book?

8. Chris Pallé on June 4th, 2008 (Comment) #

Hey there, Josh-
Glad to put it out there. The book really is good. I have found it more than just a design/strategy book, though. It’s motivated me to be a better social media participant/consumer as well. I’m understanding the value of feedback and helping these hard-working peeps. (Kinda why I’m here now

Seriously, though. We sign up for how many *beta* sites on a daily basis? “In beta” used to mean “beta testers” were the only ones using it and were required to give feedback. There are so many beta flakers out there now (shamefully, I was doing that.) developers aren’t getting the feedback they need.

You know, though, it kinda hard when EVERYONE says they’re “in beta.”

Anyway, all the best, Josh
–
CP

9. Tony T on June 5th, 2008 (Comment) #

Congratulations Josh! I have been reading your blog for a while and just 1 clicked the book on Amazon. Looking forward to reading and learning from it.

10. Martin on June 6th, 2008 (Comment) #

Got the book today in the mail, looking forward to reading it. I was surprised on how small it is with the price being £28.99 (rrp)!

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