1. Verizon Employee Workshop Series
Part 1: The World Wide Web
& Information Architecture
Mike Webb, B.S. Communication Cornell University 1997, VP IT
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301

2. The Web Internet History & Background World Wide Web (R-)evolution
Significance in modern business
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301

3. The Internet’s Military Origins
Cold War threatened nuclear destruction
Department of Defense – ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency)
ARPANET
Decentralized
Adaptable
(Net Timeline –
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301

4. Academic Connection ARPANET first connected four U.S. universities
1970’s: popular among researchers
Public gradually became aware
1982: first use of word “Internet”
(Net Timeline –
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301

5. Personal Computers http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301

6. Increased User-Friendliness
2001
1981
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301

7. What is the World Wide Web?
NOT the Internet
ONE way of USING the Internet
Analogous to , IM, FTP, Telnet, etc.
What is (was) the Information Superhighway?
“Media-friendly” term for the WWW and Internet
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301

8. Early development of the WWW
1993: Mosaic released, first graphical web browser
1994: Netscape released
1995: Microsoft Internet Explorer released
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301

9. First-Generation Design
Early designs were simple, primitive
“Cool” to have a web site – even for large companies
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301

10. Modern Design Advanced web technologies Powerful control over layout
Web sites are still “cool,” but only as long as they’re good
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301

11. The Direction Web design is: It has become “Information Architecture…”
An Art
A Science
It has become “Information Architecture…”
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301

12. Business Significance
For companies of almost any size…
Web presence was once a luxury
Now it is a necessity
Speed/efficiency of online communication is now indispensable
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301

13. About Information Architecture
IA is a Synthesis
Technology is at the core
Art/design/layout give form to the technology
Organizational/logical thinking bring the site to life
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301

14. A Good Web Site…
… makes things easier/more convenient for both customer and company
Everything is there for a reason
Form follows function; substance precedes style
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301

15. E-Commerce is HOT
Even in 1996, >$1billion/year was exchanged online
Online commerce used to be a convenient supplement
Now for many businesses it is an essential component
More than ever, information (and IA) is at the heart of business
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301

16. Be sure to visit http://www.verizon.com/
Thank you!
Be sure to visit
Reach me at
11/20/2001
Mike Webb – COMM 301