I did find the workflow techniques quite helpful though. I give him credit for putting them in print.
While there are many web-topic books that promise to instill the secrets of designing for information access, this is the first web "how-to" I've read that actually delivers the goods. Graham has broken away from the pack by using pattern language analysis to derive guidelines for design decisions, instead of nailing rules to the door and justifying them after the fact with personal belief, or trying to bend established standards from older media to fit the demands of the web.
Graham shows more than just answers. He shows how to flay a problem down to its bones, then build a solution by piecing together related, interconnected subsolutions. By understanding the rationale and behavior of the pieces, we develop faith in the appropriateness and completeness of the solution.
The connections and relations of the 79 patterns in Wu lend themselve to graphic understanding. Dependency charts for Enhancing Usability (fig. 3.8) and Adding Detail (fig 3.13) lead you through the dance of the patterns in a way that compels to to flip to the pattern descriptions and read each one to follow the logic like an unfolding detective story.
There are no hard and fast rules here. What we have now, thanks to Ian Graham, is a set of building blocks from which we pick and choose according to our needs and to the requirements of the design problem at hand. Part 4 of the book gives examples of constructing web sites by sequentially evaluating the fit and contribution of the available patterns. This is a systems approach to usability design, with the added advantage that the system works.
This is a book you are going to wear out by constant personal reference and proxy reference. You will have to share these patterns and their lucid explanations with your partners and clients, simply because this stuff is too good to keep to yourself. You'd better buy two copies at least, because someone is sure to borrow yours and never bring it back.