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Web Design Approach
- Audience and Purpose
I begin web design projects by trying to get a clear understanding
of your intended audience and your primary site objective.
I ask questions like "Who would
you most like to visit your site, and what do you want them to do
as a result of their visit?" While striving for a cross-platform design,
it is sometimes necessary to make design choices that favor one browser over another. Knowing your
target audience's
platform and likely connectivity speed is crucial. I also try to
get an appreciation of your organization's mission, goals and core
values, so that the image conveyed by the web site is consistent with
your corporate image.
- Look and Feel
I strive for readability and legibility by using relatively short,
uncluttered pages. I use cascading style sheets to give a consistent
look and feel to the site, so the visitor does not waste time hunting
for a focal point on each page.
- Content and Navigation
I believe that every page should offer
keyword-rich information content and a predictable
interface that allow users to find information quickly. I also
like to put location, contact,
and update information on every page to give your visitors a sense
that your organization has a real, physical location
with real people
available to help. I advise keeping up-to-date news on your home page
to make repeat visits worthwhile. I also design with a variety of
standard navigation features (menus, breadcrumbs, visible hypertext
links, etc.) which allow your visitors to choose a navigation style
that best suits their own cognitive styles.
- Architecture and Organization
From years of setting up web servers and web sites for local school
districts and then turning site maintenance over to local web administrators,
I have learned the value of keeping site file structures simple, and
the navigation systems (menu hierarchies) consistent with the file
structure. This also facilitates collaborative authorship and makes
updating the web site easier. I aim for a flat architecture: generally
about 3 layers of menus. This limits the number of clicks to any single
piece of information on the site.
- Policy and Procedure
Creating a web site may involve just the web designer and the site
owner, or it may also involve a team of artists, technical writers,
information specialists, marketing specialists, and public relations
professionals. It is important to establish who has the lead on the
web design project, who sets the priorities and schedule, and where
final approval comes from before the site goes live on the Internet.
It is also important to take into account corporate policies (is there
a company style manual?) and IT department requirements (who is allowed
access to the live web server?) that will impact the project. There
are also legal policies relating to privacy, copyright, and accessibility,
especially for government contractors.
- Update and Evaluation
A web site is an investment of time, money and effort, often on the
part of many people. A web site that is never updated becomes a liability
to an organization. Over time, the news gets old, links "break,"
and graphics become stale. An out-dated site reflects poorly on your
business. Updating your site regularly, checking its search engine
rankings, and monitoring the web server logs for errors and changes
in visitor hardware profiles will ensure that the site always reflects
well on your organization.
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