I have never worn New Balance shoes before, but I have developed plantar fasciitis and am looking for a moderately-priced pair of walking/hiking shoes that are supposed to be good for people with heel pain.

Obviously, in this situation it would be best to get fitted by a trained salesperson in a store that offers a range of brands and styles.  However, the nearest such place is over 60 miles away, so I thought I'd see what I could get via Amazon.

The first two pairs of New Balance hiking shoes I tried ended up not fitting at all.  I had chosen them on the basis of customer reviews and the shoes' appearance, and I did not understand at the time (because the Amazon descriptions do not explain this) that New Balance uses several different kinds of shoe lasts (forms/bases/models) to accomodate differently-shaped feet.  The shoes I had ordered were designed to fit a foot that has a different shape to mine.

I went to the New Balance website to learn more about the sizing options.  I had to dig around quite a bit on their site before I understood the intricacies of their lasts and their shoe styles.

In a comment attached to my review, I will post some informative internet links that clearly explain the New Balance shoe range.  I hope this is helpful to someone.

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Note that the last that this women's 978 walking shoe is built on is the OL-1, with a narrow heel, higher instep, deeper toebox, and wider forefoot.

Additionally, on a specialist New Balance retailer's website, they advise that this particular model of shoe (978) is apparently 1/2 size smaller than the normal New Balance shoe is (and the normal New Balance shoe is apparently 1/2 size smaller than most other shoe brands' shoes), so in this style they recommend that people order a full size bigger than their "street shoe" size.  I called them on the phone to confirm that I was understanding the website instructions for this style correctly and they said I was.  (I will post a link to that web page in the comments area below my review.)  So I ordered a full size larger than I ordinarily would.

These shoes arrived today, but they don't work for me.

Positives:
-Looked nicer than I expected them to, based on the photos I could find of them online.
-Aren't as clunky/chunky as I thought they might be.
-Aren't as heavy as I thought they might be.
-The upper is softer and more pliable than I had expected it to be (since it is entirely made of smooth leather).
-The heel fit snugly, which is what I need.
-This style is waterproof and sturdy.
-The top-of-ankle area felt pretty cushioned, which I was concerned about, since sometimes high-top hiking boots can be inflexible in that area.

Negatives (for my foot):
-The front of the shoe feels all wrong for my foot.  I don't know if it's the bigger toebox, bigger forefoot, or what, but there is too much space up there.  Even though my toes felt like they were floating (not in a good way), when I tried to push my foot forward about 1/6th of an inch to approximate how going a smaller size down might feel (according to New Balance, that is the difference in length between their women's shoe sizes), my toes were too close to the edge of the shoe. So the last is probably wrong for me.
-The footbed felt wrong for my foot - in terms of the stability bars, cushioned areas, and so on.  When walking in them, the feel was okay to my heel and midfoot, and then suddenly at the tail end of my step where my toes would start to push off from the ground, in the forefoot area the shoe noticably dipped down, which was a little destabilizing to me.  I don't know if this is a design feature that is deliberate, or it only feels this way because the last is not a good fit for my foot, but it doesn't feel good to me.  (I know it's not a necessary feature of orthopedic-"lite" types of shoes because I have purchased some Fitflop shoes in the last 2 weeks and their tremendously-supportive footbeds do not do that.)

I am losing hope that I will find a New Balance walking/hiking shoe that does work for me.

However, I appreciate Amazon's easy shoe return policy!