Book "Website-Konzeption" (Jens Jacobsen, German) Book recommendation for conceptualising websites

I am often asked which book is the best place to start when it comes to successfully conceptualising websites. Jens Jacobsen’s “Website-Konzeption” (in German language) is probably the ultimate classic when it comes to introductory works on the conceptual part of web design – and not without reason. The first edition was published back in 2001 and has been regularly updated ever since – it is now in its 8th edition.

Structured by design phases

Of course, it is not easy to structure such a complex topic in a way that makes sense – especially considering that the process can vary greatly between different projects. In recent years, for example, iterative work has become increasingly prevalent. For a book like “Website-Konzeption”, these developments mean that it must offer orientation and tools that a reader can use in practice, without wanting to prescribe an overly strict framework – and all this at the same time, without confusing beginners with too much “it depends”.

Jens Jacobsen manages this balancing act remarkably well. He divides the topic of “conception” into logical and comprehensible phases, which almost always have to be approached in one form or another. In each of these phases, he provides numerous tips, and he also repeatedly discusses alternative approaches where appropriate.

These logical phases also form the individual chapters of “Website-Konzeption”:

• The first chapters deal with the briefing, defining the goals of the project, and calculation and offer, with numerous tips on how to realistically estimate the effort required for a website and calculate a price.
• Jens Jacobsen then deals with the actual website concept. His division into two phases makes sense. The rough concept is about making fundamental directional decisions – as this step strongly influence the offer, it is sometimes even done before calculating the offer. The detailed concept then aims to describe the website as accurately as possible – all other project participants should be able to find what they need for their work. In this chapter, Jens Jacobsen manages to cover numerous important principles of usability and user experience in just a few pages – the chapter is, therefore, also very suitable as an introduction to the user-friendly design of websites for starters.
• The design concept then defines the visual design – this chapter also covers many of the basics of human perception. I really liked the fact that usability tests are defined as an integral part of a project in “Website-Konzeption” – it is not uncommon for user-friendly design to determine the success or failure of a website.
• The implementation is divided into the chapters Text Production (with numerous content tips and the basics of search engine optimisation) and Production of Graphics, HTML & Code (with accessibility, responsive web design and project management).
• In the fourth part of the book, the author covers the topics of launch (including quality assurance and documentation), the collection of chapters on PR, content maintenance, newsletters (with very brief marketing basics), analytics basics in the chapter evaluating visitor statistics, and social media.
• The last part of the book has a wealth of tips for different types of websites – be it for companies, shops, associations or educational offers, to name just a few.

Naturally, many topics are only touched on – most of these subjects could easily fill entire books. But that is okay – a book like this is about covering a lot of ground, rather than going into great depth. “Website-Konzeption” is a kind of guide that beginners can refer to again and again, and then delve deeper into individual topics as needed. It is also noteworthy that the author illuminates the topics in such a way that both clients and contractors can learn a lot.

Changes to the previous edition

Jens Jacobsen has completely updated his work for the eighth edition and brought it up to date where necessary. The most obvious new feature compared to the previous edition is the six interviews that Jens Jacobsen has incorporated at various points. They are not only a welcome change, but also introduce new perspectives and personal assessments. Jens Jacobsen covers a wide range of topics in his interviews: clients and agency representatives, designers and user experience practitioners all have their say. These interviews repeatedly bring up new ideas worth considering – for example, cleaning up the code base first as part of a “lean relaunch” and only rolling out a new look in the second step. Or practical insights into agile website design. And: All the interviewees give their outlook on how the web – and with it the design of websites – will change by 2025.

Conclusion: A successful standard work

For those new to the topic, “Website-Konzeption” is unreservedly recommended – it is not considered the standard work on the topic in German for nothing, and it also provided me with a lot of valuable inspiration for my Workshop about conception of websites.