Web Site Design Considerations

I could give you a long list of things that you should and shouldn't do when you're designing and creating your web site. Actually, I have in fact done just that. You can check it out later from the links below. But what I really want you to get is that there are three key items that should be considered when you're designing a web site. Unfortunately, many web publishers skip the planning stage and instead of asking themselves questions like "What do I want the web site to do for me?", "Who am I trying to reach?", and "How can I accomplish this?" they skip right to the coding. Big mistake! So here I've listed what I consider to be the top three things every web publisher should consider when designing a web site. My notes are kind of brief because, of course, my goal is to get you to come to class and here the whole spiel, or to jog your memory if you've already heard it.

1. Goal:
   • What do you want the web site to do for you?
   • The top three goals of businesses setting up web sites are:
     • to sell a product - ecommerce
     • to find/contact new clients
     • to provide or increase customer support
   • Ask yourself: "What's the very best thing that can happen after a person has looked through my web site?"
2. Audience:
   • Who are you trying to reach?
   • How computer literate are they?
   • What screen resolution are they viewing at? If unknown, go with worse-case senario: assume 640x480 resolution.
   • What browser(s) do they use? If unknown, stick to HTML elements that work on most browsers. Avoid browser-specific extenstions.
   • How are they connecting to the internet? What speed are they connecting at?
3. Usability:
   • This refers to how usable the web site is.
   • Can viewers get where they want to go, find what they're looking for, and do what they want to do?
   • Leverage current standards. Make use of what they already know or are already in the habit of doing.
     • raised 3-D buttons scream "click me!"
     • call customer support area "Customer Support" not "Help for the Desparate". They might think that you're taking donations for a charity.
   • Don't make them wait.

References:

WebWoman's Tips for Good Web Design

All the things we've talked about throughout this course and the one before.

Usability Is Not Graphic Design

by Jon Meads. Netscape's View Source Magazine.

Style Guide for Online Hypertext

by Tim Berners-Lee, W3C. This document was written in the early days of the web, but many of items discussed are just as valid today.

Copyright © 1997-99 by Tina McDuffie