Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed

Title: Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed
Authors: Jakob Nielsen & Marie Tahir
Rating: 9.5/10

Wow! This book is unreal, although it may be a bit TOO picky, the information on commonly used websites and the pros and cons of them are awesome.

Each page offers a pie graph that shows the following percents:
self promotional, advertising & sponsorship, unused, content of interest, navigation, welcome & site identity and operating system browser controls.

What does this mean? It helps the reader understand the proportion of white space a good website has, too little looks bare and makes a site look like it has no content. Too much is tacky and "overwhelms" a user. Some of the websites are deconstructed:
www.espn.com
www.amazon.com
www.ebay.com
www.gm.com
www.bn.com
www.ford.com
www.about.com
among others!

The first 50 or so pages tell the do's and don'ts.
ex:avoid using spaces for pages; you cannot search for them and it's a bad way to emphasize things.

I would recommend getting it from the library (as I did) or buying it as the pictures tell all.