Developing and maintaining a web site is more than installing and administering the hardware, network connection and software, i.e. the web pages have to be designed and implemented.

Although there are plenty of texts on web hardware/software/administration (I have reviewed several recently) there are few which discuss the design and presentation of the material on the web pages. If the pages are of poor quality either in the information contained or the presentation the site could be a liability instead of an asset.

The authors work for Adjaccency (a media design company) and the text is written from the perspective of a designer building a web site for a client. In essence six steps are required to create a successful web site. Step 1 identify site goals and objectives: review the clients corporate identity and strategy, clients competitors efforts, develop an online communications strategy. Step 2 develop site strategy and structure: determine target audience needs and from that the architecture of the site. Step 3 design site aesthetics: designing the user interface. Step 4 Designing and building interactivity: the interactive features of the site. Step 5 Promoting the site and step 6 maintaining the site. The text is supported with real-world case studies from Adjaccency's client sites including dozens of full colour pictures.

An impressive book suitable for graphic designers and web site implementers. Although it concentrates on the design of the web site it also discusses practical problems (e.g. compressing images) and the tools available. Have a look at the web sitehttp://www.adj.com/killer/.