Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom1 A Quick Introduction to Web Design Scott Grissom Associate Professor Computer Science & Info Systems

Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom2 Introduction Web site design Web usability

Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom3 Your Goal Create a web site that is: –useful –compelling –attractive –easy to use –satisfying

Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom4 Web Development Team Content provider Information architect Graphic designer Writer / editor Programmer Project Manager Usability Expert

Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom5 Mission Statement What are you creating and why? Who will use it? What will they want to do? What are your short and long term goals for the site? How will you know if your site is successful?

Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom6 Identify the Audience Prospective students Current students Faculty / staff Alumni General public

Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom7 Identify the Content What do your visitors want? What information do you want to provide? What do similar organizations provide? What do you already have? What do you need to create?

Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom8 Activity #1 Develop a mission statement –only one sentence Include –purpose –audience –content Develop an initial inventory of content

Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom9 Web Usability What is it? Why is it important?

Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom10 Home Page What can I do at this site? No scrolling should be necessary! Attractive This is your first impression

Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom11 Navigation System How do I get home? Where am I? Where else can I go?

Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom12 Usability Evaluation Checklist User testing Usability inspection –bring in a usability expert

Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom13 Usability Checklist Are all links correct? Is there a link to home on every page? Is navigation consistent on every page? Does each page have an appropriate title? Did I proofread all content? Create user profiles –can they do what they will likely want to do?

Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom14 Activity #2 Go to other university sites Kick the tires and look for usability problems What do you like? What do you think will cause problems? What do you hate?

Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom15 Other University Sites Hope College U of M Michigan State Wayne State Hillsdale

Web Design Guidelines by Scott Grissom16 Conclusion Web site design –start with a mission statement –plan and organize the content Web usability –you are NOT the typical visitor –find out what problems the typical visitor has with your site