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Extremely informative and a pleasure to read, I highly recommend this book.

Somehow Mike Kuniavsky has managed to capture all the useful information of an academic text on User Observation techniques without the typical dry and boring tone.

Every important observation technique is covered and covered well. I can flip the book to a chapter on a technique I have never used, read it, and feel confident that I can employ that technique.

Kuniavsky provides a clear guide to evaluating user behavior and use patterns and then gives insight on balancing what users do and what site owners would like them to do. The subtext is a clear passion for creating scenarios that leave users confident and creators satisfied. That leads to successful interactions, be they commerce or information driven. A must read for all professional designers, information architects, strategists, developers, and other professionals, if only to remind teams how the work they're doing will be digested. This book deepened my understanding of how to evaluate the way sites -- or really anything -- is used and interpreted and offers practical methods on attaining and measuring data to tweak and refine my work.

Much of the writing about user research techniques, while comprehensive, isn't that easy to use or absorb. What's nice about Mike Kuniavsky's book is that it makes clear to designers, business people and strategists why user research makes for better products - and beyond that, how to grasp these techniques and put them to use. This is the type of information that would be useful both in business (for clients and consultants, stakeholders and those in the trenches) and in the classroom.