Web Site Design Howell Istance

SOFT Interactive Systems Web Site Design n Essentially the same process as when designing any interactive application, be it a... u web-site u stand-alone application u multimedia presentation n user-centered design process and focuses on u users u tasks u environment

SOFT Interactive Systems Principles, processes and guidelines n Principles: general rules in the form of do’s and don’ts n Process: guidance on a sequence of activities,products resulting from these and methods for conducting these n Guidelines: collection of specific pieces of design guidance on topics, such as use of graphics Good design is not a mechanistic process, the designer needs to apply this general guidance to a specific context and add individual creative flair

SOFT Interactive Systems Rule 1: Decide on criteria for success n Make sure the reasons for building a web-site are clear n Get organisational agreement about what success means

SOFT Interactive Systems Rule 2: Decide who you want to impress n You can't please everybody n Defining the audience makes design decisions clearer

SOFT Interactive Systems Rule 3: Let the information drive the design n Design the site structure around the information u Content definition u Identify natural structure of the information u Identify user tasks u Define a navigation scheme

SOFT Interactive Systems Rule 3: Let the information drive the design n Prioritise Information n Establish User Interest n Graphics should support the information design

SOFT Interactive Systems Exercise n Look at the Adobe site ( Now look some of the following pages from the site. For each page... try to work out where you are and where you could go next. identify where you are in a major section. work out the parent page that has a link to this one. page 1page 1 page 2 page 3page 2page 3

SOFT Interactive Systems Rule 4: Make it easy to see what's there and how to get it n Make the site structure explicit n Provide an overview page n Tell the users where they are n Provide a 'home' and give constant access to it n Identify and give access to landmarks n Make link names explicit n Make access as direct as possible

SOFT Interactive Systems Rule 5: Don't expect WWW pages to be just like paper publications n Exploit the medium n Add value n Branding is more than a logo n Reading from the screen is hard

SOFT Interactive Systems Rule 6: Use graphics with care n Hire a professional graphics designer n Make sure the designer understands the medium n Carry graphic style throughout the whole medium n Graphics can still be boring n Less can be more n Match graphics to usage scenarios, not just link speed n If in doubt, leave graphics out n Test graphics on different browsers

SOFT Interactive Systems Rule 7: Keep users interested n Always have something new n Provide genuine content n Integrate the site with other media n Get users involved